Typology of Cultural Tourism Action (Case Study: Mashhad pilgrims and tourists)

This study analyzes different types of cultural tourism action and its influencing factors among the pilgrims and tourists in Mashhad. The authors’ theoretical approach is a combination of motivation, attitude and Bourdieu’s capital theory.In this research required data were collected by means of a questionnaire with the sample size of 302, pilgrims and tourists, in Mashhad during March 2013(Iranian New Year holidays). Based on the research findings, the cultural tourists are divided into three categories: “specific cultural tourists” including tourists whose traveling aim is visiting cultural destination, “general cultural tourists” including tourists that during their travels, they will visit cultural destinations as well and “incidental cultural tourists” including tourists that accidentally and unknowingly will visit cultural destinations. Also, the results indicated that facilities will affect both attitudes and motivations toward cultural travel. Coefficient of determination model showed that the entered variables explain 45 % of the dependent variable variations (cultural travel action) and education level have the greatest effect on the variable of cultural travel action. Regarding the results, there are appropriate potential in order to promote cultural tourism, which will help tourists to gain more experiences while visiting cultural attractions and /or taking part in cultural events. Furthermore, it seems educated people are the main participants of this type of tourism.