Analysis of factors affecting the development of competitiveness in religious tourism Case study: Zanjan city Ritual ceremony

The aim of the current research is analysis of factors affecting the development of competitiveness in religious tourism. Case study: Ritual ceremony in Zanjan city). The current research aims to create practical understanding and knowledge for tourism policy makers in the field of identifying indicators that affect the competitiveness of religious tourism based on the competitiveness indicators of travel and tourism; The report of the World Economic Forum (2015) is applied research in terms of its purpose and a descriptive survey from the point of view of the data collection method. In the present research, firstly, through the study of theoretical literature and experts' survey, the evaluation of tourism competitiveness indicators and items has been done. In order to determine the main and final indicators of tourism competitiveness in the studied area, was used survey of 15 scientific and executive experts in the field of tourism in Zanjan city. Then, by using the Dimetal technique, the internal relationships of these indicators were determined from the point of view of the influence and effectiveness of the factors, as well as their cause and effect relationships. Finally, by presenting the model obtained from the internal relationships between the variables using the Dimetal technique; The test of this initial assumption model in the studied area was done by modeling the structural equations using the partial least squares method in PLS software. The results of examining the fit of the measurement models, structural model and general model at the 95% confidence level showed that the model is generally meaningful and all the main paths of the research were accepted and the model has appropriate fit and explanatory power. The criterion of conditions and legal framework in the studied area have an importance of 0.86, 0.83 and 0.73, respectively, on the criteria of infrastructure improvement, environmental preparation and cultural-natural resources and in general on improving the competitiveness of ritual ceremonies in Zanjan city. Among the sub-items of these variables that are effective in improving competitiveness; The sub-variable of marketing, branding and improving the image of the religious tourism destination at the international level with an impact of 0.98, also; The sub-variables of comprehensive and integrated participatory planning of the institutions involved in religious tourism and intangible differentiation, interactive, meaningful, innovative and future-oriented experiences have had the highest impact with an impact of 0.86.