Hotel Selection Criteria from Tourists’ Viewpoints in Mashhad

Because of Imam Reza’s shrine Mashhad metropolis is the center of more than fifteen million tourists and pilgrims each year. In terms of supply, one of the major concerns for decision-makers and urban planners is providing accommodation for these tourist and pilgrims, while in terms of demand on the part of tourists, selecting suitable accommodation with different criteria such as good location, facilities, fame, cost and quality of services is of concern.  Therefore, the main goal of this article was to analyze the criteria influencing the hotel selection from the perspective of tourists in Mashhad. This study was an applied quantitative research and was carried out using a descriptive-analytical method. The data collection instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire. The research population consisted of the tourists who stayed in hotels of Mashhad in August 2014. Among the resident tourists, 200 individuals were selected as the sample size based on the Cochran's formula. Generally, the research findings indicated that the criteria of hotel selection from the viewpoints of tourists were the quality of services (91.5%), geographical location, facilities and cost (76.5%) and fame and image (64.5%) respectively.