The Study and Prioritization of Sports Tourism Attractions of Isfahan Province

The aim of this study was the study and prioritization of sports tourism attractions of Isfahan province from the viewpoint of managers and experts of sport and tourism. The research method from terms of purpose was functional and based on data collection was descriptive-survey. Statistical population was all of sports and tourism managers and experts including: Senior managers in departments of sport and youth and cultural heritage and tourism organization and offices in the cities of the province, all the heads of sports boards as director, faculty members, PhD students and master of science in the field of sports and tourism as an expert in university of the city. Due to the lack of accurate statistics of the number of experts in particular fields, 137 people were selected by available sampling (39 tourism experts and director and 98 sports expert and director). The data collection tool was the researcher maid questionnaire consist of demographic characteristics (11 items) and sports attractions with 24 items. that content and face validity was approved by 9 professors aware and familiar with the tourist attractions of the province, the construct validity was confirmed by explanatory factor analysis, and internal validity was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α =0/84). Data analysis was done with SPSS software through descriptive and inferential statistics (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality of the data, one variable t test for comparison between the the status quo with the current situation and Friedman test was used to prioritize factors. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and The results showed that the target attractions consist of the non sport attractions (historical and cultural), natural- sport attractions and sports attractions (sports and heroes fields) in Isfahan province for attract and develop tourism in this province are desirable and play a positive role in attracting tourists. Friedman's test results for prioritizing the tourism attraction (sport/ non sport) showed that sport-natural attraction, sport attractions (historical and cultural attractions) and sports attraction are located in first to third grades for the development of sports tourism and attract tourists respectively. Therefore is necessary that managers planned coherent and extensive plans for tourism development in this province, especially in the field of natural-sports attractions.