Strategic Tourism Management of Tehran; Challenges and Opportunities

Today, tourism is one of the most important industries contributing to sustainable development. This industry has created great cultural, social, and economic opportunities for metropolises. Abundant and diverse tourist attractions of Tehran have created a great capacity for this city in terms of tourism. However, this issue has been less investigated so far. Therefore, this study attempts to examine the opportunities and limitations of tourism development in Tehran. It also presents tourism development strategies for Tehran.

This study seeks to provide strategies for the tourism development of Tehran.

This research is descriptive-analytical. Data for this bibliographical research were collected through relevant literature, documents, and interviews. Data were analyzed using content analysis based on the SWOT model. The subjects of the research were experts of tourism, managers, and experts of organizations and institutions in charge of urban tourism in Tehran. The sample was selected through purposive sampling. The sampling procedure was stopped when the theoretical saturation was achieved. A total of 35 experts were interviewed.

Findings of this study show that developing urban tourism in Tehran requires considering different aspects. The most important strategies and suggestions presented in this article are as follows: Strengthening the will power of people and authorities for tourism development, thinking of tourism as networks, forming an integrated destination management system, improving tourism marketing, presenting and promoting a positive image of Tehran, fostering the culture of tourist hospitability and retention, increasing event capacity, and branding Tehran in tourism.