Winter tourism and examining important factors in tourist satisfaction Case study: Shemshak and Darbandsar resorts as two winter destinations

The main objective of this research is to recognize the important factors of winter tourists’ satisfaction, with emphasis on ski resorts’ attributes. One of the most important requirements of successful tourism development is the tourists’ satisfaction as a main component of tourism system. Tourism development without awareness of tourists’ satisfaction is not possible. Winter tourism as a seasonal phenomenon has been growing in the recent years all over the world. Some attributes of winter tourism makes it different from other types of tourism, as a result, tourists’ expectations and perceived qualities are evaluated separately. Our research areas are two ski resorts located in Shemshak and Darbansar villages in the vicinity of Tehran. This study is a descriptive- analytic research and the data was collected using a self-structured questionnaire. The sample population of the research were ski tourists who visited these pistes in Esfand (20Feb - 20Mar) 1389, out of whom 150 people were randomly chosen. The method employed for measuring satisfaction of tourists was Structural Equation. Results indicate that tourists are satisfied with these destinations but this satisfaction is more due to the personal enthusiasm for ski and the area’s attributes, rather than a proper provision of supplies.