The Evaluation of Health Tourism Branding Indicators in Mashhad Metropolis

The city brand is generated by different dimensions of the city identity, and the identity of a city stems from natural, climatic and environmental, economic, social-human, and finally its physical identity. Therefore, successful urban tourism is of high importance in city branding, history, and identity. Health tourism is one of the growing and trending sectors of the tourism industry in the world and is considered as one of the best aspects of economic development in Iran. In the present study, the city of Mashhad is chosen due to its unique capabilities in the field of branding and attracting health tourists. This research is descriptive-analytical and uses library research, interviews, and field studies for data collection. To analyze the collected data, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is used. In this model, each indicator is measured based on two dimensions of importance and performance. The statistical population consisted of 23 experts chosen by the quota sampling method. To assess each parameter, two questions were asked about the importance (optimal status) and the level of performance of each item (current situation) of the desired indicator in the city of Mashhad. The results of the study showed that although the revenues of health tourism form a major source of income for cities, there is no independent identity, a specific urban brand, or even an urban brand umbrella in this regard, Mashhad. Consequently, not only there is a lack of coherent and coordinated action or plan in this field, but previous attempts have led to a waste of money and financial resources.