The role of Social Factors of tourism in the development of urban tourism (case of study: the city of Isfahan)

Tourism has long been developed in various forms in human society on the basis of individual’s motivations and/or the principle of travelling and movement. Fundamental changes in tourism can be traced to the industrial revolution which brought about a huge change in life and transportation systems. Currently، tourism activities are regarded as the fourth part of human activity after agriculture، industry and services. Sustainable tourism management seeks to improve the quality of life of local residents in tourist regions through optimizing local economic benefits، protecting the natural environment and providing good experiences for visitors. This requires systematic attention to the technical، cultural، political، economic، historical and environmental aspects in the move toward the use of tourist attractions in accordance with the current needs and preservation and sustainability of such resources for future. Due to historical and cultural attractions، cities are often considered as important tourism destinations. Thus، a large amount of tourism facilities including residence، food، transportation links and other tourism services are situated in cities. Isfahan، due to its high capacity of urban tourism has always been of interest to both internal and external stakeholders. Hence in order to develop tourism and for sustainable urban tourism، there is a need for planning and optimal management of utilization of urban tourism spaces. In this study، the effect of price indexes of tourism services، the quality of tourism services، organization of tourism spaces and management of tourism spaces on the development and sustainability of tourism in Isfahan have been investigated. Results showed that management of tourist areas with the rate of 0. 76% and the prices of services with the rate of 0. 63 had the highest and lowest share، respectively، compared with other variables in explaining the development of tourism in Isfahan.