نشریه مطالعات اجتماعی گردشگری
سال دوازدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 25، بهار 1403)

Making purposeful use of the natural environment, ecotourism plays a crucial role in empowering local communities, whose economy could be improved through the application of local knowledge. Therefore, this study sought to identify the formal-functional criteria affecting the success of internet-based ecotourism businesses, and the content criteria regarding the local knowledge and economy. Moreover, the study undertook to elaborate on the effective criteria involved in the success of the relevant businesses in Iran. To do so, first, the intended criteria were developed by reviewing the related literature and performing content analysis. Then, the criteria involved in the success or failure of some select Iranian internet-based ecotourism businesses (15 businesses out of the final 44 businesses qualified to be studied in this research, which had been selected and filtered out of 91 businesses in 2019) were identified via expert-oriented quantitative evaluation. Finally, 120 online questionnaires were administered to target groups (Ecotourists and tour guides). The collected data were then analyzed via the SPSS software using Gamma and Contingency Coefficient correlation tests, followed by the validation of the criteria involved in the success of the Iranian internet-based ecotourism businesses.As indicated by the results of the study, providing local guides, organizing tours in untouched regions, and providing the opportunity for tourists to participate in ritual ceremonies were found as the main criteria involved in the success of Internet-based businesses in terms of local knowledge. Moreover, the local-economy-based criteria included the creation of job opportunities by providing a variety of tourism activities and services, providing accommodation, food, services, food, car rental services, etc. On the other hand, offering financial and cultural-educational support through holding free educational courses together with other formal-functional aspects of the platform may also contribute to the success of the aforementioned businesses.

Fars province is one of the main hubs of tourism centers in Iran. Therefore, paying special attention to tourism in the province and using Internet-of-things technology in its tourism management can provide suitable facilities for improving the welfare of its visiting tourists, thus increasing the visiting rate of its tourist destinations. In this regard, the present study sought to predict and identify the most important factors involved in applying the Internet of Things technology to the Smartization of tourist destinations in Fars province and to develop feasible desirable future scenarios thereof. To this end, the required data for this applied study were collected by conducting interviews, administering questionnaires, and carrying out a systematic review of related literature. Finally, the collected data were analyzed by the Scenario Wizard software using the MICMAC method. The results of the MICMAC analysis revealed the main role of 14 key variables in the application of the Internet of Things technology to the Smartization of tourist destinations in Fars province. On the other hand, two strong scenarios, 1548 weak scenarios, and nine scenarios with high compatibility were obtained using the Scenario Wizard software. Accordingly, the study used the aforementioned nine high-compatibility scenarios, finding that the future of tourism in Fars province would be similar to the current circumstances. It was also found that the trend of changes in the status of tourism would be slow and that the chances of applying the Internet of Things technology to the province’s tourism destinations would be low. Finally, based on the obtained scenarios, the study proposed some strategies to achieve the desired results in smart tourism. Therefore, the results of the current study could help tourism professionals prepare the ground for the application of state-of-the-art technologies such as the Internet of Things to tourism and thus develop the field through setting long-term plans.

As one of the top ten industries in the world, tourism plays an important role in the economic cycle, contributing significantly to revenue generation and currency earning. Therefore, this study sought to identify and develop a conceptual model for managing the green supply chain in the tourism industry of Fars province using the grounded theory-based qualitative approach. To this end, the required data were collected through document analysis and interviews with 20 experts who were selected via the snowball sampling method. Moreover, the validity of the study was examined and confirmed by the interviewees and the expert professors. Finally, the collected data were coded through the open coding, axial coding, and selective coding methods and analyzed via the continuous comparison method, based on which the qualitative model of the study was designed.Accordingly, 120 open codes were extracted from the transcribed version of the interviews, which were then organized in terms of 21 axial codes via MAXQDA software, including causal conditions (green processes, customers and other external institutions, green innovation), contextual conditions (driving forces involved in green materials supply, implementation of the waste management system, financial thoughts, and the organization’s costs), intervening conditions (environmental management approaches, green supply chain risks, green suppliers' capabilities, human resources management), phenomenon-based conditions (the improvement of environmental performance, economic factors, operational performance), strategies (management, technology, economics, policy-making), outcomes (green supply chain enablers, credit enhancement, institutionalization of technology equipment and technical knowledge, energy management and optimization).

Today's social community pays great attention to human resources. In other words, the performance of employees in the service sector, especially the tourism industry, is becoming increasingly important. On the other hand, tourism industry employees contribute significantly to creating a competitive advantage, with organizations with better-performing employees experiencing better business growth. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the influence of internal marketing on the employees’ job performance mediated by knowledge sharing and the moderating role of communication. The current study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey in terms of method. The statistical population of the study comprised the 390 employees of four and five-star hotels in Mashhad. The required data were collected from the administered questionnaires, which were then analyzed via structural equation modeling using the AMOS software. The findings of the study indicated that internal marketing exerted a positive significant influence on knowledge sharing and staff performance. Moreover, knowledge sharing was found to have a positive effect on employees' job performance. Furthermore, the positive effects of the moderating role of organizational communication and knowledge sharing were also confirmed. The present research is descriptive-survey in terms of applied purpose and method of work. The statistical population of the study includes the staff of hotels in Mashhad. The collected data from 390 questionnaires were analyzed by structural equation modeling with AMOS software. Findings showed that internal marketing has a positive and significant effect on knowledge sharing and employee performance. At the same time, knowledge sharing has a positive effect on employees' job performance. Another result was that the moderator role of organizational communication was also confirmed. In addition, the role of knowledge sharing interface was also confirmed.

In today’s modern world, tourism has turned into an effective way to access the environment and culture through intercultural communication. However, despite its significance in long-term economic development, intercultural communication is neglected in the planning stages of tourism development projects. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the factors that influence intercultural communication in tourism using a grounded theory approach. To this end, the required data were collected through detailed semi-structured interviews with fifteen experts and professionals in the tourism industry of Hamedan City who were selected via snowball sampling.The collected data were then analyzed, and the results were organized under six main categories with twenty-six sub-categories. Finally, the theoretical model of the study was developed using the Atlas-Ti software. Accordingly, the main six categories of the model included personal characteristics, socio-cultural characteristics, education, producing materials and creating knowledge on intercultural issues in tourism, management and planning, the health and safety of the environment, and media and information technology in intercultural tourism communication. The results of this study propose an integrated approach for tourism managers and entrepreneurs so that they can develop a high level of intercultural communication and competence for tourists.

Developed within the past decades as a key concept in international and power relations, soft power emphasizes diplomacy, culture, art, and propaganda instead of hard and coercive aspects of power. As soft power affects the international prestige and credit of countries, this applied exploratory study sought to elaborate on the role of soft power and its componential elements in attracting foreign tourists. The theoretical population of the study comprised fifteen experts in soft power and tourism who were selected via convenience sampling. To conduct the study, twenty-seven factors were identified by reviewing the related literature on tourism and soft power. The factors were then screened via the Binomial test, out of which seventeen factors were excluded due to their over 5% significance coefficient. The remaining ten factors were then analyzed using the cross-impact analysis (CIA) technique.The results of the study indicated that successful organization of political, artistic, scientific, sports, and literary events at the international level, the presence of foreign companies in the business environment of Iran, cyberspace and social networks, and improving tolerance among influential reference groups in society contributed the most to attracting tourists to Iran. The study was also replicated using the DEMATEL method, producing very similar results compared to the previous test, and the same four factors were identified as the most influential factors in attracting foreign tourists. It should be noted that the DEMATEL method and cross-impact analysis are based on a critical realism approach, considering the fact that they both enjoy structural analysis.