Investigating current challenges in Shiraz tourism industry in relation to limited residential centers

Introduction Paradigm of sustainable tourism, that is recently recommended as one of the concepts studied in sustainable development and tourism field and is in fact the common point of these two concepts, accepts tourism as a profitable source when concerns human, social, and environmental considerations and is source of income. This research in the field of sustainable tourism tries to investigate tourism status of Shiraz. Current study at first has investigated proportion between tourist and number of residential centers and showed that despite the large number of tourists, in many months of year residential centers act below the standard capacity. In the meantime and according to high level potential of Shiraz in developing tourism industry and large number of tourists that visit this city each year, it has been unable to use this industry as an income source. There are many factors affecting this matter that amang which weakness and failure of residential facilities is an important one. This study attempts to investigate quantitative and qualitative issues of residential centers in Shiraz city. Theoretical Bases While tourism term associates economic prosperity and social development, objective observations in Iran’s tourism cities such as Shiraz, question what positive output that large number of tourists resent in streets will have for the city. By proposing this issue and the necessity of paying attention to tourism issue as the most efficient service industry in the world, this research tries to provide a practical solution for dealing with this true urban dilemma. For tourism industry to transform and develop in one country, some elements and activities should transform and develop along it, which has contribution in its dynamism. Residential units are one of the most important elements of tourism industry. Service level of residential centers such as their grade and quality, desirable and standard health services, and proximity to the intended place that is the end aim of tourist trip, can cause decrease or increase of service space and change of tourist’s behavioral pattern. By the increase of current service quality and also increase of side services, investors and tourism industry will earn more income. Discussion This study by proposing hypothesis about quality of residential centers and its effect in absorbing tourists, has investigated service quality status on residential centers. Accordingly, service quality assessment questionnaire in hospitality industry was provided and standardized by conventional statistics methods. Then tourists in residential centers were surveyed according to Importance- Performance Analysis (IPA) model. The subjects of research are all of the internal tourists of Shiraz city in Mordad of 1388 among whom, a sample size of 293 subjects were obtained using Cochran’s sampling formula. Indices used in the research are 7 indices measuring quality of service in hospitality industry and also two indices for determining rate of using hotels by guests. 1- Coefficient of occupying rooms and, 2- Coefficient of occupying beds. Conclusion By investigating statistics of tourists in different months and years, investigating capacity of residential centers (room and bed) in Shiraz city and calculating percentage of occupying rooms and beds in studied months and years, it can be concluded that the most average rate of occupying beds during years (1382-1387) in Shiraz city is Farvardin and months Mordad, Shahrivar, and Ordibehesht were on the next grades. The least average rate of occupying beds during years (1382-1387) is Day. Regarding the number of residential units and its capacity with the number of tourists from the beginning of spring to Mehr that is the first month of fall there is a relative proportion, but from the beginning of Aban to Esfand month, number of tourists is less than the capacity of residential centers. This investigation indicates that tourism in Shiraz city is seasonal and it is more in spring and summer seasons. Also, according to the result that there is a significant gap between importance and tourists’ understanding of service quality in Shiraz hotels that this gap is obvious in the dimensions of hotel quality. It means that residential units in Shiraz in none of seven dimensions of service quality could respond positively to tourists’ expectation level or service quality could not go beyond that and received quality of service by tourists was always less than their expected quality. Meanwhile, the most critical component is hotel’s service prices. It indicates that hotel’s prices are more than guests’ expectations. Suggestions 1. Appropriate advertisements, based on frequent surveys of customers 2. Holding tourism festival and introducing tourism attractions of Shiraz city especially in the second 6 months of year 3. Searching and embracing of creative ideas in offering better service 4. Expenses’ management