An Analysis of Effective Factors in the Formation of Rural Tourism Brand in Kerman

The mental image of target places is the most important factor that helps tourists determine their tourism destination, the lack of which may result in limited visits by tourists. Thus, paying attention to the formation of tourism brand is of great importance. Among different cities of Kerman Province, Kerman city is impoverished in terms of infrastructure, facilities, and tourism services. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the influential factors (environmental, social, and economic) in the formation of the tourism brand in rural areas of Kerman city. The required data were collected through document analysis and questionnaires. To this end, the main and complementary factors were set within the framework of two questionnaires concerning the host community (52 persons) and a paired comparison with experts (24 persons). Fuzzy and MABAC hierarchical models were also used to weigh the main factors and rank the villages. The study found that the environmental factor had the highest weight with a coefficient of 0.676, and economic and social factors had the lowest weight with a coefficient of 0.213 and 0.111, respectively, indicating that enough attention has no been paid to economic and social factors in the field of tourism branding. This study's findings could help resolve the major weaknesses found in the city and reinforce its strengths concerning the tourism brand.