Factors Affecting Competitiveness of Geotourism Destination

The competitiveness of geotourism destinations depends on a number of factors, including resources, demand conditions, management, and destination marketing. A comprehensive model for geotourism destination competition in the world has not yet been developed and the native model of competitiveness of tourism destination in Iran has not been considered by researchers so far. The purpose of this study is to determine the competitiveness factors of geotourism destinations in Iran. The research method is qualitative and sequential exploratory. Using multiple resource alignment methods consisting of three sides: a) collecting theoretical foundations, infrastructural principles related to the research variable, b) research conducted in the field of competitiveness, and c) surveying the opinions of key experts, geotourism destination competitiveness factors were developed. The main indicators are formulated in three dimensions of competitive assets, competitiveness process, and competitive environment. The competitive assets dimension include the components of attractions, location, available facilities, supportive factors; the process of competitiveness dimension includes components of policymaking and planning, education and research, destination development and infrastructure improvement, destination marketing and management, protection and control, destination operations and branding, and the competitive environment dimension includes the components of external environmental conditions and factors affecting consumer demand. The results indicate that the competitiveness indicators of geotourism destination in Iran can cause a change in attracting tourists and maintaining and sustaining the sustainable development of Iran's tourism at the national and international levels in the current highly competitive conditions.