A Conceptual Model for the Mental Image of Domestic Tourists from Urban Spaces of Isfahan

Recognizing and interpreting the urban spaces as a tourist destination is the main objective of this study, so it can provide a way to modify or repair this mental image by identifying the environmental features involved. This research is one of the first research in this area (urban tourism) that places urban space as the subject and destination of domestic tourists. This is interpretive research and has used Grounded Theory. Participants of the study included 30 domestic tourists visiting Isfahan urban spaces. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview method. Then they were analyzed based on the structural analysis of the Grounded Theory and according to open, axial and selective coding. The central issue is the mental image of domestic tourists from the urban spaces of Isfahan which is presented in two dimensions of cognitive and emotional with regard to the causative, contextual, and interventionist conditions, strategies, and consequences, the final model was presented.