Explaining the Interaction of Tourism brand equity and Urban Landscape from the Perspective of Foreign Tourists (case study: Isfahan Metropolis)

Introduction:

 In the face of the increasing competitiveness of the tourism industry, destination tourism brand emerges as an important asset determining tourism destination identity. Attention to the urban landscape and planning is one of the most important factors that can greatly impact the urban brand. Urban landscape initially attracted the attention of the tourists. In a competitive environment, cities try to gain more market share, outstanding talent, and global attention. The main resources and attractions that are the key motivators for traveling and visiting a destination are divided into eight categories: 1- Environmental attractions (natural and human-made landscapes) 2- Culture and history 3- souvenirs and handicrafts 4-customs 5-celebrities 6-food 7- festivities and events 8-Tourism infrastructures. Apart from their role in shaping the form of the city, good and prominent urban landscapes serve as a tool for governments to increase their ability to attract tourists and global investments. Cities with a favorable visual environment can enhance their mental image and strengthen civic pride by expanding the audience's aesthetic experience. In such a competitive environment, paying attention to the urban brand is more important than ever. Urban and tourism managers have realized that to promote tourism, they must pay attention to various aspects of urban branding. The urban landscape is one of the factors that greatly impact the urban brand and its development and progress. This study investigates the role of the Isfahan urban landscape in the tourism brand of this city. This study investigates the role of Isfahan urban landscape in the tourism brand of the city. The main purpose of this study was to Explain the Interaction of Tourism brand equity and Urban Landscape from the Perspective of Foreign Tourists and prioritize the factors affecting the Isfahan tourism brand equity.

Data and Method:

 With a rich historical, cultural, artistic, natural background, Isfahan city is one of Iran's most important tourist destinations. The present study is applied research in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytic and survey concerning the method. The statistical population of the survey includes all foreign tourists who visited the city of Isfahan in 2019. The study sample based on Cochran's formula is 383 foreign tourists. In this research, by using the brand equity model, we validate the Isfahan tourism brand by emphasizing the city perspective from the view of foreign tourists. The data collection method is a questionnaire, and that of data analysis is by using Amos 23 software; In order to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire, Gronbach's alpha was used, which is 0.89 for this questionnaire and indicates the acceptable reliability of the questionnaire. The method of factor analysis is confirmatory.

Results:

 Brand image is the closest step to brand formation. A brand image is a perception of the brand reflected in the customer's mind by brand associates. A brand image does not have to be an objective image. The study results indicate that Isfahan's brand image has the most role in Isfahan's tourism brand equity. Also, historical attractions, cultural attractions, and handicrafts sequentially show the Isfahan branding image from the perspective of foreign tourists.

Conclusions :

The image of Isfahan tourist destination in foreign tourists' view is an image of a historical tourist destination. Historical landscape, natural landscape, and handicrafts in the case of Isfahan are considered competitive advantages; Especially the first one is a distinctive and unique feature of Isfahan compared to competing destinations. Improving and increasing the quality of the landscape affects the urban brand directly and has high power in attracting tourists and different investors. The urban landscape is one factor that greatly influences the urban brand and its development and progress.