Evaluating the Tourism Potential to Form Creative Tourism (A case study of Behshahr)

Achieving a creative society requires the existence of a creative class, and it seems that one of the appropriate ways to recognize and attract the creative class is to use the tourism industry. Creativity in the field of tourism is a new approach to the structural dimensions of the city and region. Therefore, the current research is trying to evaluate the tourism potential of Behshahr; to investigate the potential and capacities of this region to create creative tourism. The present research is based on descriptive-analytical approaches. The data was collected from documentary studies and field surveys in the form of questionnaires. To examine the research variables, four major tourism indicators including historical, architectural, natural, sociocultural, and infrastructure attractions, as well as five basic indicators of the realization of a creative city have been evaluated. To analyze the data and evaluate the tourism potential of the study area, the SPSS was applied and Friedman and T-tests were used. The results of the research related to the creation of creative tourism indicated that Behshahr has potential and capacity in terms of the given indicators. Also, the results of the t-test in connection with the investigation of the feasibility of creative tourism in Behshahr indicated that among the components, social capital is at a higher level and the leadership and management component is at a lower level compared with the levels of other components. The results of the Friedman test also showed that the four indicators of social capital, risk-taking, initiative, innovation, flexibility, and acceptance are in a favorable situation in terms of forming creative tourism.