نشریه مطالعات اجتماعی گردشگری
سال هفتم شماره 2 (پاییز و زمستان 1398)

This paper studied sustainable competitive advantage in competencies required by the hotel staff to ensure the permanent competitiveness of the hotels. The Resource-based View emphasizes the organizations need to attend internal resources, especially human resources. The agency approach emphasizes on staff role-play and their interaction within the framework. This research was a developmental-applied and descriptive-quantitative survey. For data collection, we distributed a questionnaire of 73 questions among a random selection of 260 individuals, including the managers and the staff of five-star hotels in Tehran. Using the structural equation modeling, we analyzed the data in both the measuring model section and the structural section to examine the technical features and the research hypothesis, respectively. Findings showed positive and meaningful impacts of the action-framework variable on the competent actor, and the competent actor showed the same impacts on creating a sustainable competitive advantage in the forms of productive, process, and administrative innovations. Based on the results, there was a relationship between the factors of action framework (i.e., mental welfare, affirmative freedom grant, knowledge sharing, revolutionary leadership, organizational equality, providing psychological conventions) and inter-personal, intra-personal skills and managerial skills and organizational competence of the staff. Finally, the hotel managers in Iran were recommended to provide the groundwork for staff role-play and to design job-tests and performance-appraisal standards, based on the skills and competencies identified in this study.
 

The profits of the coastal tourism industry are such that many people would invest in it. Considering the potential of the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, this study measured the views of tourists to improve the factors of the coastal industry. With a random sample in the city of Ramsar, this study used a choice experiment model and advanced econometric regressions such as conditional Logit. The aim was to improve the utility of tourists and to suggest a functional model for the development of Ramsar coastal tourism by creating sustainable employment. To develop models, we conducted field interviews on Ramsar beaches in the spring and summer of 2018. The results showed that improving the sanitation facilities and the recreational facilities plus beach prospects had a positive impact on the ultimate utility of the tourists. The tourists would spend forty percent more if the current situation improved by fifty percent. To develop a desirable model for tourists, our recommendations to the investors were to improve: a) the beach and sea landscape 25 percent; b) the health and wellness facilities 50 percent; c) the recreational facilities 50 percent.
 

Sustainable development of tourism requires a future studies approach. Given the nature of sustainability and the complexity of the open tourism system and its impact from trends, events, and changes (known as drivers), such an approach can identify, understand, and analyze the complexities and the operating drivers. This applied research with a descriptive-analytical method and a prospective exploratory approach identified the most important drivers that would affect the sustainable development of Awraman (Kurdistan, Iran) rural tourism. To identify the drivers, we used the Delphi technique and selected 38 experts. The MicMac software was used to find the relationships and their impacts and effectiveness. The results showed that the tourism system of the region would follow an unstable development. In such a situation, the aggregated drivers of economic, institutional, and environmental indicators would be more effective than social drivers. The most effective driver would be an inappropriate business environment, while a culture of self-employment and entrepreneurship would be the most influential driver in the sustainable development tourism for the region.
 

Tourism is a powerful means of cultural transactions among societies. UNWTO predicted the following two decades (to 2030) to be the tourism sustainable growth period. Cultural tourism development could preserve the cultural and natural assets of destinations, enhance the host communities’ quality of life, and delight the tourists. Following an interpretive approach and a systematic meta-synthesis technique, this paper systematically studied the scholarship in cultural tourism sustainable development. This study identified and categorized the extracted codes using a latent content analysis strategy. Based on the CASP criterion, the papers published in authentic Persian and English scientific databases by 2019 (Azar 1397) were selected. Maxqda 2018.1 was used to identify, group, analyze, and interpret the codes. One hundred four primary codes were grouped into 29 major and minor categories, and four main codes: i.e., dimensions, influential factors, impacts and challenges of cultural tourism sustainable development. We presented a conceptual model for cultural tourism sustainable development. Finally, by Cohen’s kappa index using SPSS, the validity of the results was measured 0.712, also verified by the experts excluding the authors.
 

This study investigated the disruptions of social relations among the tourists and the host. The statistical population included 676 citizens and domestic tourists, each a group of 338. A sample method, proportionate with the volume, was used to select the tourists. Cluster sampling was used to select citizens. To explain the main variable, we used regression and path analysis. To study the model based on the relationship between predictive variables and research structures and to determine the share of the weight of its construct dimensions, the study used structural equation modeling. SEM was also used to test the model, which had some variables with different influences. The results showed that in tourist-host social relations, the maximum was the intensity dimension, 44.17 (100-0), and the minimum was the symmetry dimension, 35.37 (100-0). In host-tourist relations, the highest mean was the dimensional relationship, and the lowest was the density dimension. In tourist-host relations, the results showed that 58.8% were very disturbed, 23.4% were in average disorder, and 17.7% were in a low and a very low disability. In the host-tourist relations, 86.7% were very disturbed, 8.3% were in average disorder, and 5% were in a low and a very low disability. Based on the results, a comprehensive program needed to develop for social trust and to promote its strategies.
 

Managing human resources in eco-friendly management of the hotels remains a relatively unexplored subject. The hotel industry is a sector that largely burdens the environment. Given the many environmental issues that the hotel industry created, sustainable business practices such as green human resource management is essential. This study examined the ways to improve employees’ eco-friendly behavior and hotels’ environmental performance through green human resource management. The paper followed an applied method with a descriptive-exploratory correlation approach. Exemplary samples of 236 hotel employees (concerned with environmental issues) were randomly selected in the cities of Tabriz, Tehran, and Mashhad. Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability were used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. To determine validity, we used convergent and divergent validity. The hypotheses of the research were tested using structural equation modeling. The findings showed that green human resource management had a positive and significant effect on the employees’ organizational commitment, eco-friendly behavior, and the hotels’ environmental performance. The organizational commitment, too, had a positive and significant effect on the employees’ eco-friendly behavior.
 

Nowadays, tourism is a leading industry and plays a pivotal role in the economic, social, and environmental issues of many societies. This study considered the sociological impacts of tourism and provided a comprehensive model. The paper used an exploratory research method. In the qualitative section, using meta-synthesis, we presented a model of psychological consequences with two concepts, six dimensions, and thirty-nine indicators. In the quantitative part, we determined the significance of the indicators of this model using the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) and a survey of experts in tourism sociology in Shiraz. The results showed that improving employment, cultural activities, and the social and cultural life of the local community were the most significant positive consequences. In contrast, fraud and extortion were the most negative sociological impacts of tourism in Shiraz.
 

Tourist-host relations are inevitable in the destination. The tourists expect to have a good experience in their interactions with the host. However, when they encounter unpleasant actions, they get contradictory attitudes towards the destination. This paper studied the effects of tourist-host interactional experience on tourists’ attitudes towards the local people. Four groups of service providers were selected: vehicle drivers, the staff of the Holy Shrine, resellers, and citizens of Mashhad. Data about the tourists’ experiences were extracted from open questions in the questionnaire. Participants’ qualitative experiences were then categorized and codified by thematic analysis in two categories of positive and negative experiences. After counting the thematic codes, attitudes of pilgrims and tourists were measured using a Likert scale. The results showed that the average score of tourists’ attitudes towards the people of Mashhad was 3.33 (1-5), which showed a neutral attitude to the hosts. Among the demographic characteristics, only age and education had significant relations with the pilgrims’ attitude. Age had a positive relation, while education had a negative relation. Besides, interactional experiences influenced the pilgrims’ and tourists’ attitudes. When they had pleasant and positive experiences with the hosts, their attitudes increased positively, while their negative and unpleasant experiences with the host, led to their negative attitudes.
 

Social networks have changed users’ lifestyles over a short period. People use online social networks. Communications between individuals go beyond the circles of friends and family members and involve communicating with strangers. Social networks have thus provided the marketers with the brand new, yet unlimited opportunities, including online word-of-mouth marketing. This study investigated the effect of information quality of online word of mouth on the tourist behavior. We received 332 questionnaires from domestic tourists who had the experience of using an online word of mouth. Valid questionnaires were 310. The data were analyzed by structural equations and the partial least squares method. The results showed that online word of mouth, information quality, and source credibility had a positive and significant impact on tourist behavior. Also, online word of mouth and information quality had a positive and significant effect on source credibility. Few studies had so far investigated source credibility and quality of information. The results confirmed the direct and significant impact of the two variables on tourist behavior.
 

Given the critical importance of branding, tourism destinations seek to attract broader support in social, environmental, and managerial dimensions and set their management methods. To accomplish such goals and to establish an optimal management approach, one needs to identify the influential factors. This paper aimed to establish a sustainable branding management strategy for coastal tourism destinations by identifying influential factors. The resource-based theory was used besides the METASWOT technique to establish a sustainable branding management strategy in Chabahar coastal zone. This mixed descriptive-analytical study was conducted on a statistical population of 84 experts and tourists. It used tested indices of a sustainable brand. The resource-based approach in sustainable branding included a set of assets and abilities that were available and useful in identifying threats and opportunities while reacting to them. This set was considered based on the “valuability,” “scarcity,” “non-imitability,” “non-replaceability of resources,” and “internal capabilities.” Besides, Chabahar coastal zone was compared to Oman, Kish, and Qeshm to identify the competitive dimensions. Given the tendency of local people and government towards economic development in Chabahar and the results from other qualitative and quantitative studies, it can be suggested that Chabahar coastal zone had the capacities required for collaborative and community-centered management. Based on the results, the optimal management strategy for this zone was resource-based, collaborative, and community-centered.
 

Tourism will soon become the largest service industry in the world with the help of IT. Social networking platforms, which have become prevalent via mobile data, are valuable tools that contribute to the information and telecommunication technology (ICT). These platforms, which provide interactions and exchanges of various contents among the users, have developed new lifestyles and behavioral models among the tourists. Marketers must enjoy the online social networks and e-tourism to increase their competitiveness, market share, and the generated profit by providing the tourists with some services tailored to their demands. Upon reviewing 100 relevant qualitative and quantitative studies, we used an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach to present a model with five primary themes, in order of priority: a major environment, managerial factors, individual factors, group factors, and marketing factors. Through these factors, social networks affected tourists’ behaviors. The model was then tested on Iranian tourists’ behaviors using qualitative and quantitative statistical methods. Results could be used by virtually all marketers and activists in the tourism industry.
 

In traditional societies, gender roles are not notable, whereas gender relations play a significant role in planning and developing tourism. Gender relations give identity to people and set their power and participation in environmental and socio-cultural affairs. All types of tourism, including cycling tourism, play roles in distributing power, resources, participation, and support among the members of society, particularly women and youths. Babolsar city has a coastline of 27 km, which makes it the lengthiest swimming beach in Mazandaran province, visited by various tourists. Should the standards improve, the city’s coastline could attract bicycle tourists and even hold cycling races on a national level. This study compared the attitude patterns of men and women to develop cycling tourism. It also discussed the motivational factors affecting women. Two hundred questionnaires were randomly distributed among tourists on the beaches of Babolsar city. Data were analyzed by T-test and linear regression in SPSS. The results showed that women, similar to men, had a high tendency to use bicycles in a suitable environment. They also asked to establish standard infrastructures to improve their skills. Among the motivational factors in women’s views, the pro-cycling attitudes and perceived cycling ease had the highest impact on developing cycling tourism in Babolsar.
 

Since tourism services cannot be evaluated before the visit, it is essential to note the word-of-mouth communication in attracting tourists. The sensitivity of the tourism industry and the significance of tourists’ behaviors urge decision-makers to pay more attention to how social congruity with the brand image can create a positive image of a region. This paper studied the effect of self and ideal self-congruence on the experience and satisfaction of tourists in Kish. It also investigated the impact of tourists’ experience and satisfaction on their word-of-mouth communications. As a descriptive survey, the statistical population was the tourists in Kish, who visited the place during the summer and fall of 1397. With a sample size of 388 tourists, a questionnaire was used to collect the data. Both validity and reliability were confirmed. Structural equation modeling and partial least squares technique (Smart-PLS 2) were used to analyze the data. Findings showed that when the real and ideal self of tourists were congruent with the real and ideal image of the destination, it led to their satisfaction. Also, the experience and satisfaction of tourists would lead to word-of-mouth communications among tourists.
 

The advantages of public green spaces are clear. However, it is hard to estimate which parks provide higher standards for users’ (both tourists and citizens) recreational demands. This study provided a model to assess recreational demands in urban parks with the help of the artificial neural network. The aim was to clarify the rules of satisfaction among the users’ recreational demands in urban parks. In 22 districts of the city of Tehran, 104 local urban parks (with a high diversity of the quality of welfare services and design) were selected. Using the user-centered viewpoint, we assessed the recreational demand. A field study from 1395 to 1396 helped to investigate the role of the urban district and park service variables in increasing the demand for urban parks. Results of trained networks showed that the artificial neural network created the best function of topology optimization with a higher coefficient of determination in three categorists of training, validation, and test data. Sensitivity analysis showed that the number of urban district parks, sports areas, cultural areas, and the quality of landscape with a sensitivity coefficient of 183.5, 58.1, 52.7, and 30.4, respectively, had the highest effect on the users’ recreational demand in urban parks. The suggested model would be a decision support system in designing urban parks. Such an approach would help improve urban development based on tourism attractions and would develop urban tourism on a broader scale.
 

Ecotourism has attracted much attention in recent years. A critical issue in ecotourism is to understand the state of demands. Demand is typically measured in terms of the tourism market. The tourism market is linked to the region of tourism products, and the characteristics and preferences of their representatives. Noting ecotourism, this study analyzed the demand situation of ecotourism in Gilan province. The statistical population of all tourists entering Gilan province was 384 individuals. Wilcoxon, Binomial, and T-test were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the role of geo-touristic attractions such as coasts and forest areas was essential for the present and future travel of tourists to Gilan. However, the goal of many tourists to these attractions was mere fun. Thus, they suggested little ecotourism motives. The services of the indigenous people and lodging in indigenous resorts did not have high effects on the travel of tourists and did not create much incentive for them.
 

Traveling always brings with itself a sense of rejuvenation, hope, and abandonment from daily activities. Most experts recommend traveling to the elderly, the disabled, and the veterans. The main issue for disabled people is their being ignored in the Iranian tourism network. Many urban and public spaces lack the proper facilities and are hard to use. People with disabilities have less or limited opportunities to enjoy tourism activities. Disabled tourism needs particular attention since Yazd was named a World Heritage by UNESCO. This research designed a model of the factors that influenced developing disabled tourism in Yazd. Reviewing the literature, we identified 15 essential factors, which were revised and modified into 13 after interviews with some experts. Using cognitive mapping technique and interpretive structural modeling, we designed a model for essential factors. The results showed that the most critical factors in developing disabled tourism included the role of the government in promoting such tourism, a customized transportation system for the disabled, and security.
 

Tourism-baed development would only takes place if local communities are provided with the revenues earned from visiting tourists who are willingly pay for tourism services offered. This study, therefore, sought to investigate the willingness of toursits visiting the villages of Shandiz city in Binalood town to pay for tourism services offered there. Being a descriptive-analytic research, the study used conditional evaluation method and logit model to measure the pay willingness rate. Vikor model was also employed to identify the spatial differences among the tourists in terms of their willingness to pay for the services they received. The population of the study comprised of eleven villages which were visited throughout 2018 by 96 visitors who were selected as the participants of the study according to Cochran formula with 0.1 error rate. The results of the stusy indicate that tourists tends to spend an average of 776540 Rials (equal to 6 USD) in the villages they visit. Taking the the total willingness of the visiting tourists to pay for the services for a full day into account, commercial facilities, catering, recreation, and residential facilities were the most willingly paid services respectively. Moreover, based on the Vikor model, tourists spend more money in Virani village as more services are offered there in terms of restaurant, catering, and residential facilities.