Investigating the Impact of Destination Branding on the Development of Urban Tourism (Case Study of Tabriz Metropolis)

Tourism is an strategy for increasing the community revitalization of encouraging social revival and improving living conditions in urban areas. Accordingly, urban development planners focus on new tools in their planning strategies to achieve these benefits and move towards new concepts such as branding. Such an approach has added to the importance of branding in urban tourism development. In this research, efforts have been made to evaluate the impact of branding on tourism development and its dimensions in the Tabriz metropolitan area. The present study based on the purpose is the applied research and in terms of method is descriptive-analytical research. The statistical population of this study is tourists entering the city of Tabriz in 2018. The required sample size was considered using Cochran formula and 384 people. The questionnaire used in the research has been constructed by the researcher whose indices are derived from relevant studies and literature and then localized. Validity and reliability of the research model and analysis of the data were done using structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis in Smart PLS software. The research findings showed that destination branding has a positive and significant impact on the development of urban tourism and its dimensions (perceived value and benefits, support and participation and sustainability of tourism development) in Tabriz metropolitan area. The results also indicated that the branding of urban tourism destinations in metropolitan cities could increase the support of tourism through increased value and perceived benefits, thereby contributing to sustainability.