Clarifying the Impact of Place Branding on the Components of the Tourism Experience of Health Tourists Studied in Tehran

Branding a place is a process that affects the experience of tourists by creating a strong identity and recognition for a place, and by highlighting the unique features of places and attracting the attention of tourists and other stakeholders, it can attract more tourists and economic development. Based on this, the present study aims to investigate the impact of place branding on the components of the tourism experience of health tourists studied in Tehran. In this research, an attempt was made to analyze the effect of place branding on the components of the tourism experience of health tourists studied in Tehran. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The statistical population of the study consisted of incoming tourists to Tehran; due to the lack of accurate statistics on the number of incoming tourists, in order to determine the sample size, Cochran's formula was used for the unlimited population, and the sample size was estimated to be 384 people. The validity of the research tool was calculated using the confirmatory factor analysis model, and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. Data was analyzed using SPSS and SMART PLS software with descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. The findings showed that place branding has a positive and significant effect on the attractiveness, accessibility, accommodation facilities and activities of the health tourism experience of Tehran health tourists. Among the studied variables, place branding had the most significant effect on the attractiveness of the tourist experience, with a path coefficient value of 0.643 and the least effect on the facilities and activities variable, with a path coefficient value of 0.472. Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the policy makers and planners of the tourism field of Tehran city need to plan in the field of place branding and defining the branding of the health tourism field in order to create the ground for attracting tourists and Benefit from the benefits of tourism development.