Codification of Strategies for Competitiveness and Sports Tourism Development in Cities by using of Meta SWOT Technique (Case Study: Mashhad Metropolis)

In many successful countries, cities are the basis for the development of the tourism industry, and urban tourism plays an important role in increasing welfare, improving community mobility, reconstruction and urban sustainable development. Sports tourism can be recognized as the motivation and goal of tourism in cities and has the potential to become a trans-sectoral thing in this industry. Cities have many attractions for sports tourism, and the development of the sports tourism industry can be an important and effective factor on the growth of urban development. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to develop competitive strategies and development of sports tourism in cities by using of the Meta SWOT technique that was performed as a case study on the metropolis of Mashhad.

According to the studied components, the present research is applied and descriptive-analytical one in terms of targeting and the research method, respectively. This research has been done quantitatively and qualitatively. To develop the theoretical framework for research and review of past research, library (documentary) studies and also the survey method in the form of field surveys and interviews as a tool for collecting information related to research have been used. In the qualitative part of the research, the goals, resources, capabilities and environmental factors that effective on the development of sports tourism through library studies and in-depth interviews with ten experts in the field of sports tourism (five professors of sports management, three deputies of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and two PhD students in Sports Management), were identified to compose the Meta-SWOT questionnaire. Data collection was based on Delphi method and Delphi team selection was based on targeted sampling method. The statistical population in the quantitative research section consists of all managers, officials, experts and professors of the university, who have a history of scientific and practical activities related to sports tourism, and finally 35 people participated in this research as a statistical sample. 73% of the participants in the study were male and 27% were females. Also, most of the participants in the study were 65 years old and the youngest were 25 years old, and the total average age of the people in this study was 38 years. 40% of people had a doctorate, 32% had a master's degree and 28% had a bachelor's degree. Also, the participants in the study included 11 research professors and faculty members of universities, nine PhD students in sports management, ten deputies and employees of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization of Khorasan Razavi province and five ones from managers of travel and tourism agencies.

The results showed that the factors of technology, inflation and non-response of infrastructures were considered as the biggest macro-environmental obstacles for the development of sports tourism in Mashhad and due to the size of their bubbles, they need to be considered more by the authorities. Other macro-environmental factors such as the imposition of sanctions, laws and regulations, popular culture, the ability of the country's executive branch, and political instability, were ranked next in terms of the impact and necessity of executive action. Among the factors affecting the success and development of sports tourism in Mashhad, security, government support, ease of provision of suitable accommodation, health, appropriate communication channels and at the top of all dynamic economies had the highest strategic proportion. In other words, they are more valuable, unimaginable and irreplaceable than other factors; therefore, special attention should be paid to these factors in order to develop tourism in the city of Mashhad. And even the authorities must be try to promote and develop these factors. Creating diversity in the attractions of sports tourism in Mashhad, the geographical location and as well as diversifying access and solving some kind of climate and environmental restrictions of it must be considered as priority.

Finally, it can be concluded that the development of sports tourism in Mashhad depends on the priority factors that were identified as the most important indicators of the development of sports tourism. As the results indicated, dynamic economy is the most important factor for attracting and developing sports tourism in Mashhad; But a dynamic economy can be achieved when environmental barriers such as inflation, sanctions, and technological and technological issues are taken into account. This means that all factors must be taken into account and that the development of tourism will not be provided by upgrading one sector; Because the identified factors, such as chain links, are interconnected. Also, since the city of Mashhad has a high competitiveness among Iranian ones, so that there is a lot of position for improvement and by upgrading the infrastructure and facilities in the shadow of government support, it must hold various sporting events to promote sports tourism.