The Effects of the Development of Tourist Sites on Satisfaction of Religious Tourists (Case Study: Mashhad as a Metropolis)

The increasing expansion and development of commercial, residential and recreational spaces changed the face of Mashhad as the second largest metropolis in Iran over the past decade. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of the development of tourist sites on the satisfaction of religious tourists. The research population is religious tourists who have traveled to Mashhad in Nowruz 1395(from Sunday, March 20, 2016 to Friday, April 1, 2016 is considered as Iranian new year holiday). The results of multivariate regression analysis showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the development of tourist sites and religious tourist’s satisfaction. Among the independent and effective variables in the model, the variable of development of recreation centers has the most effect on the satisfaction of religious tourists as a dependent variable and subsequently, the variables of the development of residential centers and the development of shopping centers are effective on the satisfaction of religious tourists. Meanwhile, the results of Pearson correlation test showed that there is no relation between travel motivation and demographic characteristics of tourists with the satisfaction of religious tourists.