An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Tourism Brands in Rural Settlements of Iran (Case Study: Binalud County)

Today, for a variety of reasons, communities create brands. One of the most important reasons for creating tourism brands is to make a location seem attractive for tourists and encourage them to spend more time in an area and raise the residents’ standards of living. In this study, the factors affecting the formation of a rural tourism brand are examined from the perspective of experts and university professors. This study is an applied research conducted in a descriptive-analytical method. A major part of the data was collected through field studies, interviews, and filling out questionnaires by 30 experts active in the area together with 42 rural managers. The findings of the study based on the results of fuzzy hierarchical analysis showed that among the three factors, the economic factors with impact coefficient of 54.6 % had the highest effect, and physical-environmental factors with the impact coefficient of 16.7% had the lowest impact on creating rural tourism brand. There was a little difference between the results acquired from the experts of the organizations and the academics about the impact of the above factors. With the aim of identifying villages suitable for creating tourism brand, we applied TOPSIS technique, and proposed Jagharq village as the most appropriate rural area for creating rural tourism brand. We also identified 10 other rural areas as capable of creating tourism brands. According to the findings, the following guidelines are recommended: to introduce and advertise certain products of the rural areas in urban areas, to pay special attention to entrepreneurship in rural areas, to provide tourism facilities in rural areas, to restore cultural elements, and to give special attention to restoration of past cultural elements, customs and traditions.
This study aims to identify the rural areas having a high capacity and potential ­for creating brands and symbols and the role of symbols in improving the quality of life in villages of the study areas. Therefore, this study seeks to provide an appropriate response to the following question: What are the most important factors affecting the creation of tourism brands in villages of the study area? In addition, we try to identify the villages suitable for developing tourism brand in the study area?
To use a methodology, we mean to utilize the principles and frameworks that will guide the research. Clearly, the research methodology will be different based on the type, purpose and subject of the study. This study is an applied quantitative study benefiting field works for data collection and is based on descriptive- survey analysis. The data were collected through documentary research and field works. In documentary method, the researcher takes notes from books and documents and could be used in all scientific researches. We mainly tried to find the information and the results of previous relevant studies, so that we may find a general framework for topics discussed in this research through reviewing the literature of the study.
To investigate the factors affecting the formation of a rural tourism brand, we used Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and then ranked the villages of the study area through Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS).
Discussion and Results of ranking 14 indexes, using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) showed that three indexes of ‘availability of specific products in the villages’, ‘presence of entrepreneurs in the villages’ and ‘capital investment in rural areas’, with the impact coefficients of 14.2, 13.6 and 13.4 % respectively ranked first to third. With regard to rankings based on 14 indexes, there was a significant difference between the views of experts from departments and organization and university professors, to the extent that university professors believed that three indexes of ‘availability of specific products in the villages’, ‘presence of entrepreneurs in the villages’ and ‘capital investment in rural areas’, with the impact coefficients of 14.2, 41.1 and 14 % respectively ranked first to third. However, the experts from departments and organization believed that ‘availability of specific product in the countryside’, ‘cultural significance’ ‘and presence of entrepreneurs in the villages’ with the impact coefficients of 14.6, 14.3 and 12.8 % respectively ranked first to third. The availability of tourism facilities and the ‘use of tourism potentials’ in rural areas with the impact coefficients of 2.3 and 1.7 percent, were ranked last and penultimate by experts and university professors.
Based on exploratory studies, factors affecting rural tourism brand were in three categories: economic, social and physical-environmental ones among which, according to experts’ views and utilizing Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP), economic factors with the impact coefficient of 54.6 % had the maximum impact on recognition of a rural environment as a tourism brand. Among the 14 indexes affecting tourism brand, availability of particular products in a village with the impact coefficient of 14.2 % and presence of entrepreneurs in rural environment with impact coefficient of 13.6 % ranked first and second in affecting the recognition of a village as a tourism brand.
The results showed that Jagharq village, given to its attractions in economic, social and physical- environmental fields has had the minimum distance from the positive ideal in TOPSIS method, and was identified as the most suitable village for creation of rural tourism brand.