Develop a framework for measuring the lasting experience of foreign tourists traveling to Tehran

Developing a Framework for Measuring the Lasting Experience of foreign Tourists Traveled to TehranExtended AbstractIntroductionCompetitiveness is one of the most important concerns of business and activity in today's dynamic and competitive environment. In recent years, competition has been introduced as an economic concept that also affects the sustainable development of the travel and tourism industry. Tourism destinations, similar as other producers of other consumer goods, must convince their customers that they are able to offer a combination of benefits that no other destination can offer. On the other hand, it should be noted that the tourist experience has a positive and significant effect on tourist satisfaction with the tourism destination and tourist satisfaction leads to loyalty and re-visit. Providing a unique and lasting experience for tourists, is one of the most important ways to increase their satisfaction and loyalty. It should also be noted that the image of the destination is widely and well-known influences the decision to choose the destination and post-trip evaluation and tourist’s future behaviors. Given the growing importance of tourism in today's world and the competitiveness of tourism markets around the world, tourism destinations are increasingly competing to attract tourists to each other. The expansion of the tourism industry anywhere in the world requires special conditions and facilities such as climate, ancient and natural attractions, customs, infrastructure, facilities and equipment. In recent decades, the tourism as the largest and most diverse industry in the world, has played a major role in creating added value of countries and therefore has been able to be considered as a source of income in the world. These days, tourism is considered as one of the most important and dynamic activities in the world, so that globally, the number of foreign and domestic tourists and their income generation is constantly increasing.MethodologySince the purpose of the present study is to identify and rank the dimensions of foreign tourists traveled to Tehran, it can be said that the current study is an applied-developmental research in terms of purpose. The statistical population of the study is all foreign tourists traveled to Tehran in March and April 2019 and visited the tourist attractions of this city. Then 400 questionnaires were distributed among these tourists and a combined method was used to select the members of the statistical sample. In order to collect data, the library method has been used to review the research literature and the field method (distribution and collection of questionnaires) has been exerted. Also, descriptive statistics were used to analyze the demographic data and exploratory factor analysis method was used to analyze the data related to the main research variable through SPSS software. Considering that the present study seeks to provide a framework for measuring the lasting experience of foreign tourists traveled to Tehran and the researcher intends to identify and rank the dimensions of lasting experience among these tourists, therefore, exploratory factor analysis was used to identify these dimensions. As Habibpour Gotabi and Safari Shali (2016) state, exploratory factor analysis is one of the few methods that has been exploited to identify the dimensions of social phenomena. They note that the researcher can use exploratory factor analysis to examine experimental data to discover and identify the indicators as well as the relationships between them.Results and DiscussionFindings of the present study show that 18 factors out of 70 items can be identified. The items 60, 61 and items 62 to 69, respectively, are the first factor. Items 25 to 34, respectively, are the second factor. Items 40 and 47 to 51, respectively, are the third factor. Items 12 to 15, respectively, are the fourth factor. Items 53, 54, 56 and 58, are the fifth factor. Items 5 to 9, are the sixth factor, respectively. Items 42 to 46, are the seventh factor, respectively. Items 52, 55, 57 and 59, are the eighth factor. Items 16, 19, 21 and 23, are the ninth factor. Items 17, 20 and 22, are the tenth factor. Items 36 to 39, are the eleventh factor, respectively. Items 11 and 12, are the twelfth factor. Item 35, is the thirteenth factor. Items 1, 2, 24 and 41 are the fourteenth factor. Item 1 is the fifteenth factor. Item 3 is the nineteenth factor. And finally, items 4, 18 and 63 are the eighteenth factor. It should be noted that out of the mentioned 18 factors, 9 factors can be explained and accepted.ConclusionThe purpose of this study is to identify and rank the dimensions of the lasting experience of foreign tourists traveled to Tehran, as one of the most important tourism destinations in Iran. Findings indicate that the lasting experience of foreign tourists traveled to Tehran, has nine dimensions, which are in order of priority: new and good phenomena experience, unique experience, self-improvement, sensory experience, ideal experience, local people interaction experience, service quality experience, local guide experience and familiarity experience. The results of the research findings are in line with the research findings of Aladdin and Chini (2012). The analysis of the survey results shows that there is a correlation between all three dimensions of physical product, experienced service and food / drink with tourists' satisfaction, according to this, the relationship between the quality of the experienced service dimension and the satisfaction of tourists, which is in the highest rank, confirms the significance of these dimensions. Based on the findings in the current study, new and unique phenomena were identified with the highest priority, which is somewhat in line with the findings of Borujeni and Behmanesh 2013, and the new dimension of the history and culture element, among the moderating and reinforcing features, the cost-value element and among the supporting factors and sources, the hospitality element have a more effective role on creating a memorable experience for cultural tourists visited Iran.