Investigating the Preferences of Domestic Tourists in Relation to Themed Hotels(Case Study: Isfahan City)

The dynamic and competitive nature of tourism means that staying alive in a competitive world requires the emergence of special interest tourism in hotel industry and tourism marketing. The concept of special interest markets has emerged in recent years and can be said to be the opposite of mass tourism. Special interest markets differentiate tourists and offer activities and services based on their tendency, motivation to travel, and their needs. This study focuses on introduction of themed hotels and follows three major purposes: 1) to identify the suitable themed hotels for investing in Isfahan from the perspective of experts; 2) to investigate the tendency of domestic tourists to accommodate in thematic hotels and 3) to determine the tourists' perspective on the priority of themed hotels. This study was conducted in Isfahan city, Iran, and the data were collected through interview and questionnaire. The qualitative-quantitative method was used in this study and the results illustrated that domestic tourists tend to stay in thematic hotels, and from their point of view, traditional hotels, handicrafts hotels, and hotels that display the historic flourishing area of Isfahan are the top three priorities for accommodation.