Urban branding approach in the process of tourism role-playing in small towns(Case study: small towns of Kurdistan province)

accepting the role of tourism in many small cities can improve the status of the urban economy and improve living conditions, but the main requirement is branding for this group of cities that have been neglected. Therefore, the present study seeks to identify effective indicators of internal and external development based on the urban branding approach in order to make tourism a role in small towns in Kurdistan province. The research method is descriptive and analytical and the statistical population includes 60 experts from municipalities and public, governmental and private sectors in Kurdistan province. The results of factor analysis method in this research show that among the 20 research indicators, "activities", "public facilities and services" and "slogans" are the most important internal criteria, and on the other hand, "advertising", "logos". "Institutional-infrastructure support" are the most important external factors influencing the acceptance or non-acceptance of new roles in order to brand the acceptance of the role of tourism in small towns of Kurdistan province.