نشریه گردشگری فرهنگ
پیاپی 12 (بهار 1402)

Abbas-Abad Garden located in Behshahr county is a garden belonging to the Safavid era that is expanded in the suburban area representing a gorgeous bride in the heart of the forest at a height of about 400 meters above sea level. Its natural beauty with a picturesque landscape was so great that, despite being hard to reach area and the difficulty of operating construction, persuaded Shah Abbas Safavi to undergo building this garden in this area, as he kept it hidden from many people`s eyes after completion. In confirmation of this idea, it can be mentioned that there is no specification or description of the garden spaces available in the historical documents. Its vicinity to the untouched and natural forest next to the built-in garden according to the geometry of Iranian gardening and the existence of a lake in the southern part of it, similar to a precious gem, has increased the inexpressible beauty and calmness of the garden. After the reign of Shah Abbas, the garden was abandoned, and consequently, due to the dominance of natural events, the built-in garden was buried in the heart of the forestry area, as the precious lake of Abbas-Abad and the remains of Chartaghi in the middle of it were the only representatives of the garden, so that there was no request for this place except the residents of the neighboring villages. The garden was registered in the list of national monuments in 1967 despite the construction of a hydraulic dam in the area, and the presence of a building between the lake and the dam wall, with no trace of the remains of the built-in garden. The story of the garden did not end with this issue, and after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, by facilitating access to the area, new requests1 for this area gradually appeared, as each of the interested organs took possession of the property. In the 90s (70s SH) following the initiation of excavation operations around the lake, the built-in area of the garden appeared and came out of the ground, as this gorgeous bride thoroughly presented itself again, and the reputation of the garden became more and more popular. Despite of all the adversities that occurred to this magnificent area, eventually, it become possible to be registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011 together with eight other Iranian gardens. Following the registration, it was expected that all kind of organizations whether public or private, from national or domestic corporations, take their actions to protect the values and aesthetic aspects of this work; however, each organization was merely thinking about its interests to benefit from it; And meanwhile, it is only the Cultural Heritage of the country that has not benefited from it. Lowering the position and value of this unique garden to a place for vulgar2 or ‘negative tourism’, exploiting it for trade purposes, benefiting specific groups from it merely for short-term profitable targets, and requesting their share will eventually turn this gorgeous bride into a crone, old woman over time, which increases the risk of removing it from the list of the world works; the level of vulgarity in this area is so high that even the domestic cultural tourists who come to this place for the fame of Abbas-Abad Garden, have no desire to get off their cars, and leave the place regretfully for the careless approach is applied to this place. From the beginning of 2015 onwards, by disclaiming the cultural heritage organization of the country from the tourist areas of the place and around the lake, known as the forest park (Park-e Jangali), unfortunately, the situation of the garden as a registered work has been depreciated along with many intrusions in the location, inattention to the rules of the World Heritage, all have given an unpleasant appearance to the cultural landscape of the area and greatly destroyed the historical monuments in the area. The final shot was fired at this place following the approval of the Behshahr Master Plan by the ‘Supreme Council of Urban Planning and Architecture’ in August 2022, without consulting the Ministry of Cultural Heritage; as a result of this action, this sub-urban area was transferred to the jurisdiction of Behshahr city and its management was given to the municipality. The collection of unpermitted activities, unregulated authorizations, and unorganized presence of tourists coupled with harmful activities are the adverse outcomes of the two mentioned decisions. Certainly, the persistence of these activities, diminishing the power of Cultural Heritage, and the position of this world garden bring destruction to the Abbas-Abad Garden and this gorgeous bride will be lost forever. What would happen, if Shah Abbas was alive today!!

The cultural rituals of any society are the birth certificates of that society’s culture, history, religion, and ethics. These rites and rituals are an important factor in fostering cohesion and unity among the people of a society who gather together in various ceremonies. Mourning ceremonies and rituals vary in different provinces, cities, and villages across the country, particularly during the first decade of Muharram. Iran is considered one of the inheritors of world culture due to its diverse and rich cultural rituals. The purpose of this research is to do a comparative and documented study of Muharram rituals in these two provinces so that by revealing the manifestations of cultural rituals and their differences and similarities, we can reach the deep and rich layers of the culture of these two provinces. This research intends to investigate the differences and similarities between the rituals of the first decade of Muharram and their cultural differences in the two provinces of East Azarbaijan and Khuzestan, using a descriptive-comparative study method. These two provinces have a deep cultural and religious background and an ancient civilization. The results of this research show that despite the great similarity in the performance of Muharram rituals in the two provinces in question, the diversity of mourning rituals is also visible in these two provinces. The varieties and differences are closely related to cultural, climatic, and linguistic differences in these two provinces. These two provinces’ people have chosen to mourn in accordance with their religion, vegetation, culture, and language. The results of this research show that, in addition to these differences, the common points of this cultural ritual in the two provinces are the love of the Prophet’s family and devotion to Ashura culture.

Medical tourism is the travel of patients to other countries to use cheaper and quality medical services than their own country, which is considered a sub-branch of health tourism. The economic and political function of medical tourism is one of its most important consequences for the host society. Also, according to the legal requirements of its implementation, the main research question is “What is the appropriate model for attracting medical tourists to Tehran Medical Sciences Hospitals?”. Therefore, the main goal of the research is to explain the model of attracting medical tourism in medical sciences hospitals in Tehran and to identify its components. In terms of purpose, the research method is applied and developmental. The data was collected from the field using the qualitative method. To design the model, 13 managers and experts of public hospitals under Tehran University of Medical Sciences were selected and a semi-structured interview was conducted, which was analyzed and coded based on theme analysis. After measuring the reliability (retest) and validity (reciprocity of the interviews) of the data, a proposed model was presented. Based on the obtained model, seven themes were identified: “behavioral quality of the treatment staff, professional quality of the treatment staff, treatment costs, quality medical centers, the perceived image of the medical brand, the quality of the treatment process, and the components of the treatment destination. The results showed that, according to the fit indicators, the model has sufficient validity and the identified themes are effective in attracting medical tourists.

Contemporary architecture has not been able to fulfill its role due to its disconnection from its indigenous culture and identity. Such a disconnection has brought irreparable consequences since it has made architects get disconnected from their true origin. This has resulted in overlooking the real rules and principles governing the design of buildings, especially cultural buildings that have an identity-maker role in society. Therefore, studying the laws and rules that govern cultural spaces, especially at the international level, due to the extent of their duties in promoting and preserving ethnic culture and teaching science and technology, is important and needs to be considered in the design of such spaces. Therefore, the main goal of the research is to study the rights related to cultural spaces included in the selected international documents of the research to extract principles and components for improving the quality and functionality of these valuable places. Due to the generality of cultural spaces and the fact that the majority of their audience is children, it is necessary to pay attention to and evaluate the cultural rights related to children included in international documents. In this regard, efforts have been made to examine selected international documents, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, 1966, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 to see how the rules of cultural rights and a series of requirements and components provide architectural solutions to achieve these requirements. These solutions can improve the quality of cultural spaces and exercise relevant rights. The research method is descriptive-qualitative, and the method of data collection was library type. The result of the research indicates effective components such as sociability, the manifestation of Iranian identity, the responsiveness of spaces to children’s needs, and the efficiency and usefulness of space in cultural places.

Nowadays, environmentalism has increased among consumers. For this reason, firms can use a concept called green creativity to respond to this trend. Also, since the development of the tourism industry in a region can lead to disadvantages such as environmental pollution or damage to local culture and heritage in addition to advantages, tourism firms should pay more attention to the concept of green creativity. The purpose of this research is to answer the main question: what role does green creativity play in the development of the tourism industry in Ardabil province? The type of research was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlational in terms of the nature of the method. The sample of the research was the employees of service businesses related to tourism in Ardabil province. For sampling, a simple random sampling method was used, and to select the sample size, Cochran’s formula was used, based on which the sample size was equal to 346. Collecting the required data was done using two standard questionnaires on green creativity and effective factors in the development of tourism in the region. Validity was checked and confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis and reliability by Cronbach’s alpha. Data analysis was done using the SEM method and SPSS 26 and Smart PLS 3 statistical software. The findings of the research showed that since the variable of green creativity explains the variance of the tourism industry, green creativity has a positive and significant effect on the development of the industry. Also, based on the findings, among the dimensions of green creativity, green creative motivation is effective for the development of the tourism industry. The findings of this research can be effective in encouraging organizations and firms active in the tourism industry to pay more attention to green creativity.

This study evaluates the tourism event of the Pomegranate Festival in Bayangan city to investigate the economic, social, and physical-spatial effects of tourism events. In terms of purpose, the study is applied, and in terms of nature, it is descriptive-analytical, which was carried out using a survey method and questionnaire tool. The collected data were also analyzed using SPSS and ARC GIS software. The statistical population in this research includes the villages of Zardoi, Satyari, Tin, and Dodan, from the Bayangan District of Paveh County, including 712 households. The results of this research show that maximizing opportunities to meet new people, developing the skills of the young to hold these ceremonies, and encouraging collective participation are among the other sociocultural effects of tourism events. In terms of the economy, the effects seem to be at a medium to high level. Among these effects, the highest frequency is related to the price rise during the period of holding the ceremony. In terms of environmental impact, the results indicate that air pollution due to the arrival of tourists’ cars has the highest frequency. Among the negative effects, noise pollution ranks next with a frequency of 50.3 percent. Spearman’s correlation findings indicate a significant relationship at the 0.01 level between holding tourism events and social and economic dimensions. The beta value of the regression test indicates the more important economic impact of tourism events than the social impact.

Public spaces in cities have been conceived as leisure and tourism destinations due to their social and civic roles. Due to economic, political, and managerial factors, many of these spaces in Tehran have become passive and non-social in recent years. Although institutions such as the government and urban management argue that the objective of constructing spaces is to improve social life and tourism, in places such as Valiasr Square, the stagnation of social life is problematic. It seems that one-sided political tendencies toward space as a platform for the government to show its power position have frequently resulted in the elimination or diminution of the share and interest of groups of stakeholders in public space. Social inequality in space efficiency as a result of a biased approach calls into question the meaning of public space as a place belonging to the public. The reasons for the failure of government public spaces such as Valiasr Square can be the lack of full-fledged and inclusive processes to create a common place with an unexpected nature and accessibility to different groups of society. Therefore, social and tourism approaches to public spaces should not be atomistic and need to stay away from partiality. Space should be used as both an object and a tool to dominate and display power. Adopting a holistic approach to space as a common property of power institutions and members of the public and society can provide the possibility of forming citizenship and social life.