نشریه مطالعات اجتماعی گردشگری
سال یازدهم شماره 2 (تابستان 1402)

This study sought to identify and describe social communication methods used in terms of cultural signification by tourists and the host community in Chaharbagh Avenue, Isfahan, Iran. To this end, a qualitative approach was adopted, using the meaning coordination management model as the theoretical framework. The population of the study comprised the residents of Isfahan City, among whom thirty people were selected through purposive sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. The required data were collected via participatory observation and semi-structured interviews, which were then analyzed through content analysis, and open and axial coding. The study’s findings indicated that while the majority of Isfahani people expressed a positive attitude concerning the presence of tourists and establishing communication with them in Chaharbagh Avenue, poor creative hardware and software infrastructure in street communication, lack of coordination among policymakers, planners, and operational units in establishing effective communication and failing to consider creativity in redefining the third generation tourism products have prevented the avenue to gain a desired position in terms of tourism success. However, it could generally be argued that the residents of Isfahan City (as the host community) had a favorable attitude towards making effective communications with tourists in Chaharbagh Avenue.

Considering the fact that human resources are regarded as the most important key qualification and the source of creating competitive advantage in the hoteling industry, this sought to investigate the effect of brand leadership on the brand citizenship behavior of the staff working in the hoteling industry of Isfahan City. The study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey in terms of research method. The statistical population of the study comprised all Isfahan Hotels’ staff who were active from September to January 2020, from among whom 145 people were selected via a structural equation and convenience sampling. The required data were collected through the questionnaire, whose reliability and content validity was verified using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Finally, the collected data were analyzed through the PLS software, considering non-normal distribution. The findings of the study suggested that brand leadership exerted a significant positive effect on brand passion, thereby making brand-supportive behaviors (adaptive, conscientious-oriented, and innovative behaviors) possible. Moreover, it was found that adaptive and innovative behaviors had a significant positive influence on brand citizenship behavior. However, the significant effect of brand innovative behaviors on brand citizenship behavior was not confirmed.

This qualitative study sought to identify the causes and effects of the phenomenon of collective nature-based tourism among the people living in Ilam City using the grounded theory method. The population of the study comprised all residents of Ilam City in 2019, among whom twenty-four people were selected through purposive sampling until theoretical saturation was reached. The required data were collected via semi-structured in-depth interviews, which were then analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. In the open coding stage, 928 semantic propositions and 157 basic concepts were identified, which were then categorized into 27 axial categories in the axial coding stage. Finally, the core category was identified based on the content analysis of the axial categories identified in the previous stage. The findings of the study indicated the effective role of causal conditions, curiosity, psychological reinvigoration, nostalgia, and conspicuous consumption on the spread of collective nature-based tourism. Moreover, it was found that contextual conditions, including environmental and climatic conditions, economic status, family background, holidays, and spatial belonging on the one hand, and intervening conditions such as the lack of leisure facilities in the city, and temporal and gender limitations on the other hand, were also involved in such a phenomenon. On the other hand, the findings revealed that the people living in Ilam opted for health-oriented, taste-oriented, culture-oriented, and destructive interactions and strategies while trying to improve social relations. In general, the core category of "collective nature-based tourism as a manifestation of opportunities and threats" was extracted from the content analysis of axial codes, indicating that this kind of tourism creates opportunities for individuals to improve their mental and emotional well-being and social life and strengthen their solidarity. However, it can bring about some threats to nature, including its destruction which may be caused by dumping waste, deforestation, and hunting.

This study sought to investigate the social, cultural, and environmental consequences of tourism development from the perspective of the host community in the Darband and Darake neighborhoods of Tehran using a qualitative approach. To this end, some eighteen people, including the owners of catering units, local officials, and residents of the neighborhoods were selected as the sample size via purposive sampling. The required data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participatory and non-participatory observation, which were then analyzed using content analysis. Finally, the analyzed data were categorized into 167 concepts, 17 subcategories, and four main categories. The findings of the study indicated that tourism development had brought about similar consequences for the studied neighborhoods (with slight differences) due to their similarity in terms of geographical location and existing attractions. Accordingly, tourism has, from the economic viewpoint, increased the revenues of the neighborhoods’ residents, boosted job opportunities, and changed the income resources. However, it paved the ground for some restaurant owners’ exploitation of foreign tourists and provided the traffic warden with false income. On the other hand, while the expansion of social interactions, the prevalence of some social anomalies, immigrant reception, and overcrowding were identified as the social consequences of tourism development in Darband and Darake neighborhoods, the development of cultural exchanges and learning English as a second language were found as the cultural consequences of such a development, contributing to cultural conflicts between the host and guest communities. Finally, environmental pollution, damages incurred to vegetation and wildlife, physical and land use changes, and the efforts made to increase the number of restaurants and improve their quality were identified as the main environmental consequences of tourism development in the neighborhoods mentioned above.

Having a long-standing tradition in the Iranian and Shiite communities, pilgrimage and religious travels have considerably increased throughout the last two decades with a boom in tourism. In this regard, many studies have been carried out on different aspects of pilgrimage, addressing both managerial aspects of the pilgrimage destinations and the experiences reported by the pilgrims. However, while several review articles have already been published in English-language journals on pilgrimage studies, no such article could be found in the Iranian -Persian academic journals concerning pilgrimage and religious trips made in Iran. Therefore, this article sought to examine the formal and contentual features of the Persian scientific-research papers on pilgrimage and religious tourism published in Iranian Journals, trying to identify the research gaps in this regard. To this end, the relevant articles published from 2003 to 2021 in Iranian journals accredited by Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology using a systematic review and content analysis method. Then, the features of the collected papers were examined in terms of spatial distribution, frequency, geographical distribution, authors’ characteristics (gender, frequency, and field of study), and methodology (research method, data sources, data collection tools, observation unit, sampling method, and statistical tests). Finally, the papers were categorized in terms of their relationship with the Parsons’ social systems, introducing the over-researched and under-researched areas and the research gaps in the Iranian pilgrimage and religious tourism studies so that new ideas and research topics be offered for novel studies and the development of knowledge in this regard.

Despite potential tourism capacities in Iran, few foreign tourists visit Iran compared to the competing countries due to the lack of infrastructure, the existence of legal barriers, and the sanctions imposed against Iran. As considerable growth in the application of information technology to tourism is one of the main trends in this industry, this applied exploratory study sought to identify future scenarios of business intelligence in Iran’s tourism industry using both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the collected data. The population of the study comprised tourism, future study, and business intelligence experts, out of whom the intended participants were selected via judgmental sampling. The study was conducted in three phases. In the first phase, thirty effective driving forces of the prospective business intelligence in the tourism industry were identified by reviewing the related literature and interviewing the experts. In the next phase, the identified driving forces were screened and prioritized using the EDAS. To this end, the driving forces were screened via the Binominal test, twenty of which were eliminated from the analysis, accordingly. Then, the remaining ten driving forces were assessed using the EDAS method. Finally, the type of decision-making culture and the arrival of foreign tourists were selected as the final driving forces, which, together with the application of root definitions and the organization of consultation workshop, formed the basis of offering four scenarios, namely the prosperity, heterogeneity, the spider web, and the ice ages. Accordingly, the prosperity and ice age scenarios illustrate the best and worst conditions for the future of business intelligence in tourism, respectively.

Sustainable consumption and production patterns (SCP) play a crucially important role in the sustainable implementation of all economic activities. Therefore, this study specifically sought to develop a structural model to assess the driving forces involved in establishing a sustainable consumption and production pattern and to improve the sustainable aspects of the supply chain in tourism. To this end, first, fourteen consumption and production-related factors were selected and developed using the relevant literature and the experts’ views. Then, the collected data were analyzed using the Gray Relational Analysis, considering the fact that this model helps identify the causal relationships between the selected stimuli and assess the power of their mutual interactions. According to the study’s findings, ten influencing driving forces and four influenced ones were identified as the factors involved in establishing a sustainable consumption and production pattern in the tourism industry. Accordingly, the highly influential driving forces that readily affect other driving forces were identified as the "Government policies and regulations for developing an integrated system of sustainable consumption and production", "The managerial Support and involvement in implementing a sustainable consumption and production pattern", "Initiatives and advertising campaigns developed by various tourism enterprises for implementing a sustainable consumption and production pattern", and “Gaining market advantage and improving the overall performance in the industry". Identifying the causes and effects involved in implementing a sustainable consumption and production pattern in tourism’s supply chain, the findings of this study can help managers easily analyze relevant issues in this regard and thus enhance their overall performance by recognizing the cause and effect driving forces.

As an influential basis of development worldwide, especially economic development, tourism currently lies at the center of the world governments’ main policies in job creation, entrepreneurship, and promoting sustainable businesses. On the other hand, by naming the year 2018 as “Tourism and Digital Revolution', the World Tourism Organization clearly indicates the significance of the digital revolution and its influence on the sustainable growth of the tourism industry. Considering the influence of the digital revolution on all aspects of human life, including travel and tourism, businesses and organizations involved in tourism have no other choice but to adapt themselves to the current dynamic and ever-changing environment. Therefore, this applied descriptive-survey research sought to examine the effects of the digital revolution on tourism businesses using a quantitative approach. The population of the study comprised the staff of tourism businesses working in Tehran city, among whom 385 people were selected via random sampling. The required data were collected through a questionnaire administered to the participants of the study, which were then analyzed using the SPSS24 and Smart-PLS2 software. The study’s findings indicated that the rate of digital revolution status was above average in terms of all the indices included in the study’s conceptual model. Moreover, the overall role of the digital revolution in tourism businesses was assessed using a single sample T-test. Accordingly, the average rate of most of the twenty-five indices investigated in the study was found to be greater than 4, indicating the influence of the digital revolution on all aspects of tourism organizations which may bring about some changes in tourism businesses. On the other hand, Friedman's variance analysis test revealed a significant difference between the mean ranks of digital revolution components in tourism, with its greatest influence being on human resources training and development. Therefore, it seems necessary to invest in employing and training human resources that can deal with such developments.

Enhancing the quality and liveliness of pedestrian zones is being increasingly turned into a significant scenario in the process of tourism development among competing actors at national, regional, and international scales. However, many projects regarding the development of pedestrian tourism routes are not welcomed by the public when operationalized due to their lack of liveness, despite the huge costs and time dedicated to them in the pre-planning phase. Therefore, the main question posed in this regard is whether there is any significant difference between different people in terms of knowing the factors involved in the liveliness of urban pedestrian zones. The answer to this question could be of great importance, especially in countries like Iran where the decisions to intervene in public spaces are taken unilaterally without the participation of the prospective users of such projects. Thus, this study sought to identify the barriers to obtaining liveliness in Charbagh Abbasi Pedestrian Street" in Isfahan via the Q method, trying to analyze the attitude of different people in this regard using Q factor analysis. To this end, ten frequent users of Charbagh Abbasi Pedestrian Street were selected via snowball sampling method, ten subjects were selected. Moreover, the required data were collected via semi-structured interviews with those ten participants and the review of the related literature, based on which some thirty-nine barriers were identified and prioritized. Finally, Based on the findings of Q factor analysis, the attitude of the participants was classified into three main categories. In other words, the findings of the study revealed three different perspectives on the barriers to obtaining the desired liveliness in such an urban space.

As a multifaceted phenomenon, tourism has traditionally existed in different dimensions and areas of society. On the other hand, there are some basic concepts in sociology such as social capital, which, together with the concept of tourism, can foster social development and evolution. Therefore, this study sought to develop a model in terms of a conceptual link between tourism and social capital to be used for the development and evolution of society using mixed-method research. To this end, the study used the partially mixed sequential dominant status design approach conducted in three qualitative-qualitative-quantitative phases, according to which systematic review, thematic analysis, and modified Delphi methods were used, respectively. According to the findings of the study, in the first phase, twenty-six English and Persian articles were selected out of 211 reviewed articles using the systematic review method. In the second phase, the data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed via the thematic analysis method, according to which sixty-seven basic themes, twenty-six organizing themes, and four inclusive themes were identified and extracted. In the third phase, three rounds of Delphi were conducted to validate the components of the model and examine the extent of the experts’ consensus in this regard using the modified Delphi method. Accordingly, all the experts confirmed the validity of the model’s components. The results of the study indicate the pivotal role of components such as "Providing social support, participating in tourism, observing the civil rights, strengthening social, cultural, and economic infrastructure, etc. in creating a link between tourism and social capital, which can pave the ground for fostering social developments.

Many businesses were challenged by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 worldwide. Meanwhile, the tourism industry was among those industries that were affected the most by the pandemic, suffering huge losses economically. Therefore, considering the restrictions imposed by governments on tourists’ travels to counter the spread of the virus, turning to virtual tourism can partially compensate for some of the losses incurred in this regard. Goal: Investigating the potential tourists' attitudes toward AR applications, their intention to use them in their future travels, and, similarly, their intention to recommend these applications to others.

The required data were collected via online questionnaires using the convenient sampling method. The research questions were then analyzed via the SPSS software using a binominal test.

The results indicated the positive attitude of the respondents and their high willingness to use and recommend this application to others.

The findings of the study suggested that the respondents had a positive attitude towards using AR-based applications and that they were willing to use them for their future travels. Moreover, it was found that they were ready to recommend such applications to others. Therefore, AR technology could be regarded as an opportunity for marketing managers of tourist destinations to use to maintain public awareness of their destinations’ brands during the lockdown imposed upon the outbreak of pandemics such as covid-19. Moreover, this new technology can help flourish tourist destinations by creating added value for tourists.

In today’s world, finding practical solutions to deal with rural developments is required for the survival of the villages. On the other hand, many countries consider tourism as the economic driving force, setting as the main strategy in developing appropriate plans for rural development. To this end, social entrepreneurship and tourism are given specific priority, the promotion of which could prepare the grounds for the development and progress of rural areas. Therefore, considering the fact that social entrepreneurship criteria are of great importance in rural tourism development and that few studies have so far been conducted on the assessment of the effectiveness of such criteria in fulfilling the development goals, this study sought to investigate social entrepreneurship criteria in rural tourism development in Gilan province, Iran. To this end, first, the criteria for social entrepreneurship in tourism were identified by reviewing the related literature. Then, a researcher-developed questionnaire was administered to thirty-five entrepreneurs, experts, and professionals in the field of tourism with at least five years of working experience who were selected via snowball sampling to identify the significance of each criterion with regard to the other ones. Finally, the investigated criteria were ranked using Interpretive structural modeling (ISM). According to the findings of the study, nine levels were identified for the ranking of the investigated criteria, with the ninth level, that is belief in entrepreneurship and the creative use of resources, being the most influential social entrepreneurship criteria involved in rural tourism development in Gilan province.