نشریه گردشگری فرهنگ
پیاپی 13 (تابستان 1402)

"Meme theory" considers cultural evolution as biological evolution and along it. Throughout millions of years, genes have been transferred from one body to another. However, those that have brought more adaptation to the environment have remained in place. Since the emergence of humans, the building blocks of culture, or memes, have been transferred from one mind to another and have become permanent through cultural adaptations. Memes evolve by natural selection and contribute to the reproductive success of a subject through the processes of variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance. The spread of the meme occurs through behavioral reproduction in its host. Memes that spread less gradually die out, while others spread, mutate (positively or negatively), and persist. The proponents of this theory argue that the memes with the best replication are easily imitated and spread the most, no matter how harmful they are to the well-being of their hosts. In other words, a meme is a basic unit of ideas, symbols, or cultural actions that can be transmitted from one mind to the minds of others through expressions, behaviors, customs, and other ways that can be spread and imitated. In general, Memetics is based on the imitation of humans, and the strongest memories that are frequently evoked in most minds contribute to the creation of human culture. In this evolutionary process, memes are reproduced better and faster. Ritual tourism is a trip motivated by participation in ritual ceremonies. This participation can appear on two different levels: imitation and critical participation. Is it not true that tourism is a wisdom-raising system? If this is the case, in the ceremonies, the ritual tourist is expected to go beyond imitation and get involved in critical thinking. The main purpose of memes is reproduction. The more imitative minds there are, the higher the reproduction power will be. It is replicable and can be adapted to the imitator's mind. However, if critics outnumber imitators, the meme loses its adaptability. It will not be imitated or reproduced. Gradually, it gets rid of its fat to have a proportional size; sometimes it becomes so thin that it strikingly resembles the time when it was born, and the foliage added to it over the years is pruned. The point is that the promotion of ritual tourism in the world through a thoughtful critic's view can reproduce rituals whose ruling spirit is much tied up with finding meaning in life, rationality, peace, humanity, and ethics. Since a ritual tourist uses a different perspective from the local society to look at rituals, he can go beyond the level of imitation and spread his critic's view.

Some tourists etch their names on the walls of historical buildings as a permanent mark without any significance. Sociologists refer to these individuals as vandals. This study discusses this topic from the perspective of environmental psychology and assumes that these scribbled written words are one of the signs of attachment to a place. Therefore, the research aims at examining the reasons why such behaviors occur to take a step towards controlling, reducing, and preventing destruction by tourists by writing or inscribing words. For this purpose, this research attempted to answer two questions: What motivates some tourists to leave written words on historical sites and monuments (such as the Si-o-se-pol bridge)? Which vandalistic motivations or sense of attachment to the place dominates this bridge? To analyze the data, the written words were categorized into groups (A.B.C.D), and a visible sense of attachment was observed in all of these groups. Qualitative content analysis was used to uncover hidden meanings. After studying the remaining written words on the bridge walls, semi-structured interviews (open-response) were carried out with vandal tourists. The results indicate that the written words are driven by a sense of attachment to the place. According to theoretical definitions, this type of behavior, recording memories with a name and date, reflects the feelings of people who have visited the place repeatedly.

Event tourism is a new kind of tourism industry whose market is comprised of travelers who are traveling to see events or experiences. Events include a variety of forms. Festivals and events are among the fastest-growing segments of tourism in the world, and tourism destination managers have found that new, exciting, pristine, and unrivaled attractions should be used to increase the number of applicants visiting those destinations by meeting their needs and goals of tourism. This article attempts to identify the factors affecting the attraction of tourists in tourism. In the meantime, our country has potential capacity in the field of event tourism due to its unique climate, geography, and customs. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting tourist attraction in the tourism event of Hakim Abolqhasem Ferdowsi in the city of Tus. To identify the factors affecting the attraction of tourists in tourism, the commemoration event of the sage Abolghasem Ferdowsi in the city of Tus was selected. For this purpose, the tourism literature of the event was scrutinized using the library method. Then, the hierarchical analysis method and questionnaire tools were used for field research. The obtained data were prioritized using Expert Choice11 software and the logic of the hierarchical analysis process to present policies and effective executive strategies.The results showed that the most important factors affecting the attraction of tourists in event tourism in the organizational and managerial dimension, including the alignment of stakeholders with the goals of the event tourism. In terms of culture, the goal is the discourse of famous services to tourists while infrastructure and technology goals focus on the creation of communication channels and the educational goal is holding training courses. The framework provided to managers and trustees in stakeholders seeking to develop event tourism has a better understanding of the factors that influence the advancement of event tourism goals. It also helps stakeholders to become familiar with the potential risks and factors that occur in tourism development before starting to implement and allocate financial resources and adopt specific policies, to familiarize themselves with the tourism community and cultural heritage to enjoy its ultimate benefits.

Hormozgan Province is one of the three southern provinces of Iran located near the Persian Gulf. This province has significant geo-economic and geostrategic importance for the country. Bandar Khamir, a city located in this province, has been designated with three national and international conservation titles due to its location in the large Khour Khouran lagoon. The city has also been registered as a UNESCO learning city for its extensive efforts in educating the local community on preserving natural heritage. As the country’s macro-policy focuses on developing the southern coasts and promoting population growth, industry, and agriculture towards these coasts, it is essential to develop strategies within a paradigm of intelligent utilization to improve these protected areas. Studies show that agritourism is the best form of tourism for environmental conservation. Therefore, this research seeks to answer this question What are the agritourism-centered development strategies for Bandar Khamir. The purpose of this study is strategic analysis of the development of agritourism in Bandar Khamir, taking into account the current capacities and future expectations of this wetland city. This study is qualitative with a nature-oriented paradigm and belongs to the field of ethnography. The data analysis is carried out using the strategic SOAR method, which is an effective and interactive tool for strategic thinking and planning. By identifying strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results, this method guides policymakers in mapping out operational plans. The unique wonders and attractions of Bandar Khamir, which are aligned with recognized activities of agritourism, are considered the strengths of this wetland city. While national and international attention may initially seem like a threat due to conservation concerns, through further study and understanding of the list of possible activities that can be carried out in various zones, it is a smart opportunity for the sustainable development of this port. The recommended aggressive strategy for this wetland city, which results from the integration of strengths and opportunities, is the development of “Marine Agritourism” and “Aquatic Sports”. This strategy enhances the “Learning City” brand for this city at national and international levels because “Marine Agritourism” seeks to promote learning among not only residents and the local community but also tourists. This ideal will be evaluated based on two measurable indicators (results), meaning the Carrying capacity of attracting tourists and the number of international agritourism events.

Today, the concept of cultural tourism has drawn upon the factor of culture to facilitate development. The most important prerequisite to stress culture and culture-based industries necessitates a solid background.  Tehran, as the capital of Iranian civilization, has this advantage which can help the cultural tourism industry to contribute to urban development. However, the concept of cultural tourism is neglected in urban development plans. Therefore, the questions that arise include: a) what are the indicators of cultural tourism for the development of Tehran? b) How is the development in the 22 districts of Tehran ranked based on cultural tourism? This research is descriptive-analytical nature using a mixed approach to explain the framework of cultural tourism’s effectiveness on the development of Iranian cities. To this end, ranking the development status of the 22 districts of Tehran was carried out based on a road map to benefit from the hidden cultural treasures of Tehran by attaching cultural tourism to urban development plans.  This study employed documentary, and field study methods as data collection methods while content analysis, swing weighting, taxonomy-numerical, and cluster analysis were used as analytical methods. The results show that the 12th district of Tehran, with the most recorded places, and historical sites, Oud Lajan Bazaar, and Tehran Bazaar, have been given a higher priority compared to the rest districts of Tehran. Districts 6 and 1 of Tehran have had a better rank compared to other districts because of hotels and exhibitions of painting, photography, and sculpture and they have been ranked second and third respectively.

Health tourism is one of the fastest-growing branches of tourism in the world. Health tourism not only leads to the strengthening of the scientific, political, social, and regional sectors but also has many economic and marketing benefits. Therefore, to increase the economic prosperity of the country and promote the health tourism industry in Iran, and achieve a suitable position among the countries of the region, it is necessary to understand the marketing of health tourism development. The present study examines the marketing model of health tourism in Tehran. The research method is qualitative, applied in terms of purpose, and exploratory and explanatory in terms of approach. The sample of the research consisted of experts in the tourism and health industry, and 12 people were selected as the sample of the research using snowball sampling. In this study, content analysis based on open, axial, and selective coding was used to analyze data from semi-structured interviews based on the principles of grounded theory. The results indicated that to investigate the marketing process of health tourism development in Tehran and the relationships between the identified components and dimensions, a data-driven theory framework was used for modeling, which involved determining the dimensions, components, and concepts. The proposed framework was presented as a conceptual model consisting of 22 components and 7 dimensions. Given the need for mixed marketing elements, especially medical services (product), treatment costs (price), natural factors, and preventive processes, recommendations for health tourism should be diversified for various consumer groups.

Tourism of event or “Event Tourism” is one of the modern and new established types of tourism in the world, which has not received much attention in the country of Iran despite its unique cultural and local capacities. Studying the impacts of event tourism in Iran has been the main goal of the research. To get the research objectives, a qualitative approach has been used, relying on library and field studies. Qualitative data has been collected based on the  published sources on event tourism in Iran. Based on the research findings the following were determined, 1. the contributing factors and involving institutions in organizing event tourism in the country, 2. the existing approaches in the organization and 3. the impacts of event tourism in Iran. Finally, a number of corrections were suggested regarding these deficiencies. Considering the potential opportunities in the field of legislation, it is required to consider the possible capacities for event tourism as one of the essential parts of tourism. It has legal capacities to be considered under the responsibilities and mission of the Supreme Council (Ministry) of Cultural Heritage, to introduce the existing capacities following the approvals of the organization and preparing a relevant calendar. Moreover, the public culture council of the states can use their capacities to improve the cultural activities and utilization of local capacities.