نشریه برنامه ریزی و توسعه گردشگری
پیاپی 46 (پاییز 1402)

In the process of rapid changes in the world, tourism is no longer just a journey of horizons, learning lessons, and moral experience, but is defined as a meaning-making phenomenon based on the actors' understanding of it under the economic-cultural background in every society. The diversity and multiplicity of actors and fields of tourism formation have led to the formation of colorful definitions of tourism. In the review of the existing definitions, characteristics and features of tourism were extracted and divided under the title of fundamental and desirable principles of tourism, but none of the definitions included these principles and features at the same time. However, even if a definition includes all of the principles, there are other essential features to understand and describe tourism as a multidimensional activity that is necessary but left out or ignored. The main goal of this research is to extract and infer the abandoned or neglected characteristics of tourism in order to redefine it.

Design/methodology/approach: 

The current research follows a descriptive-exploratory method in terms of its purpose and is a mixed study, composed of both quantitative and qualitative approaches.  In terms of the audience, this study is basic research.

The findings were reported in the form of existing definitions and characteristics of tourism (thesis), neglected characteristics of tourism (antithesis), and interpretation and combination of existing and neglected characteristics of tourism and its redefinition (synthesis).

As an important result of this research, in order to define tourism, it is necessary to first define the philosophical source and approach of definition and its position in the value system of the society; is it supply-oriented, demand-oriented, or holistic? In addition, within each approach, the full features of that approach should be considered. For this purpose, the concepts can be categorized and elementized so that the definition is not lost in the heart of words and concepts, and then the categories and elements are described in a continuum.

Originality/value:

 By emphasizing that "tourism is tourism", a redefinition of tourism was presented by combining existing definitions and newly identified elements.

The issue of tourism competitiveness is welcomed as the country's ability to optimize its attractiveness for international visitors, and provide quality, innovative, and valuable tourism services to gain a share in the global market. The present research aims to investigate the relationship between travel and tourism competitiveness index in increasing the development of the tourism sector in Islamic countries.

 Design/methodology/approach: 

Correlation between research indicators was done using the Pearson correlation coefficient in three levels of travel and tourism competitiveness indicators using SPSS 23 software. Panel data analysis and fixed effects were conducted to investigate the relationship between travel and tourism competitiveness index and tourism development indicators using STATA16 software.

Findings:

 The findings of the research show a positive and meaningful relationship between a number of travel and tourism competitiveness indicators with the arrival of international tourists and tourism revenues.

The positive and important results for the index of cultural resources in relation to the arrival of tourists to Islamic countries indicate that cultural and religious resources and places play an essential role in attracting more tourists to Islamic countries.

Originality/value:

 The most important innovation and originality of this research is the test of the relationship between the competitiveness indicators of travel and tourism in Islamic countries taken from the data of the World Economic Forum at three different levels, the test of the relationship between the indicators of tourism development and the competitiveness indicators of travel and tourism in the Islamic countries and considering four control variables taken from World Bank data to achieve more accuracy.

Educational tourism is a branch of tourism that has experienced a significant increase in recent years. The purpose of this research is to identify and extract the components and functions of educational tourism.

Design/methodology/approach:

 The present study is a systematic review and follows a descriptive research method. For this purpose, articles presented in English in Springer, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Taylor databases were searched from 2000 to 2023 with the educational tourism, components of educational tourism, study abroad, international students, and functions of educational tourism keywords.A total of 58 articles were found by the researchers in the mentioned period. After the entry and exit criteria and the screening process, 35 papers (23 in the field of educational tourism components and 12 in the field of educational tourism functions) were chosen and reviewed in this study.

The results showed that the most important components of educational tourism include mastery of the language (especially English), quality of education, experiential learning, cultural affinity, level of social mobility, personal desire and motivation, economic efficiency, and ease of access. The functions of educational tourism include education and learning functions, experience and practice functions, communication and collaboration functions, emotional functions, and social and cultural functions.

The findings of this conceptual paper help to increase the understanding of the various factors identified about the components and functions of educational tourism. It is suggested that the policymakers of Iran's educational system prepare realistic mechanisms to realize and facilitate educational tourism and in this way, provide a platform for cross-cultural and trans-spatial learning.

Originality/value: 

The originality and innovation of this research enrich the poverty of consistent theoretical and empirical foundations around determining the components and functions of educational tourism in the domestic research literature, as well as providing a basis for encouraging and promoting the phenomenon of educational tourism.

The prime purpose of this study is to develop a model for measuring traction and thrust factors in equestrian tourism in Gonbad Kavous City. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey in terms of data collection methods.

Design/methodology/approach:

 The statistical population of this study includes those sports tourists who traveled to Gonbad county in the spring and autumn of 1400. According to Cochran's formula, the sample size is 168 people. In this study, two methods of library and field, including a researcher-made questionnaire have been used. Its reliability and validity were confirmed using Cronbach's alpha value and confirmatory factor analysis technique.

The results of structural equations showed that the path coefficient and statistics obtained for the thrust and traction variables had a positive and significant effect on equestrian tourism, and the research hypotheses including pull factors: the safety, weather, services, festivals, hospitality, infrastructure, legal protection, attractions, facilities, competitions, medical services for the horse, educational tours, equipment, financial services, and the architecture of the horse-riding-club complex, and push factors: escaping from pollution, calmness, meeting new people, enjoying attractions, exploring, sharing experiences, excitement, exercise, participating in the race, horse breeding, religious position, familiarity with the sport were confirmed.

Based on the research findings, it is recommended that stakeholders and tourism authorities in Golestan Province improve public reception of equestrian tourism in the province by increasing and improving health and accommodation facilities, designing attractive events, increasing awareness-raising advertising, and creating better transportation infrastructure.

Originality/value:

 This research focuses on examining the pull and push factors that attract tourists to participate in equestrian events, a topic that has rarely been studied in Iran and, although it has been studied in the field of tourism, equestrian tourism has been overlooked. The most important achievement of this research is to provide an accurate picture of the factors influencing the attraction of equestrian tourists to Golestan Province, which can be used in designing strategies to improve this sector, both at the private and government levels.

Considering the importance of rural eco-tourism in the economic and social development of rural areas, the present study seeks to identify and stratify the priority areas of rural ecotourism in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.

Design/methodology/approach:

 To determine the importance and weighting of the identified indicators, the fuzzy Shannon entropy method was used. The fuzzy Aras method was also used to determine the priority of the regions (ten cities of the province). Finally, with the benefit of the kriging interpolation method in ARC GIS software, the identifies indicators were interpreted.

Based on the results, the suitability index of the restored architecture in the physical sector with a weight of 0.0945, the index of minimal damage to the environment and optimal use of resources centered on the concepts of sustainable development in the environmental sector with a weight of 0.0943, and the suitability index of the restored architecture in the infrastructure sector with a weight of 0.926 were the most effective indicators in identifying the rural ecotourism area.

Based on the findings of the research, the villages of Farsan with a definite score of 0.116, Borujen with a definite score of 0.115, and Shahrekord with a definite score of 0.113 were identified as areas with higher priority in rural ecology, while Khanumriza and Ben villages had lower scores than other regions of the province.

Originality/value:

 The variety of techniques used in the research can be considered as the innovation of this study.

With the advent of social media technology and new marketing conditions, developing a strong relationship with customers has become more important. Customer relationship management is a business strategy based on relationship-oriented marketing as well as a business strategy with the approach of establishing long-term and sustainable relationships with customers according to their conditions and behavior patterns. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of using social media on the performance of social customer relationship management.

Design/methodology/approach: 

This study is correlational and descriptive research in terms of its practical purpose and method. The sampling method of the research is due to the limited size of the statistical population of the census, in which 171 questionnaires were distributed. The structural equation software (PLS) was used to check research hypotheses.

The findings showed that customer-oriented management systems and auxiliary variables directly affect social customer relationship management capabilities. Social customer relationship management capabilities have a positive effect on customer relationship performance, but the effect of using social media technology on communication management capabilities with social clients is not confirmed.

The obtained results showed that the customer orientation management system has a positive effect on social customer relationship management capabilities, and also the researchers know customer relationship management and management insight related to the effectiveness of social media in the use of technology. Therefore, creating an effective social customer relationship management strategy (Social CRM) helps managers improve customer satisfaction and maintain long-term relationships with customers to achieve organizational goals. Therefore, creating and developing an efficient and effective social customer relationship management strategy should be one of the key goals for hotel managers. 

Originality/value: 

According to the review conducted in internal research, little research has been done in the field of Social CRM in the tourism and hotel industry. Therefore, in the current research, emphasizing this case, the auxiliary variables affecting the organization, including employee training, management support, and organization size, were examined to investigate customer communication capabilities on the performance of customer communication in the hotel industry.

Context and Purpose :

Today, the importance and scope of the tourism industry has led to the analysis of several phenomena from the perspective of tourism. From the emergence of the first attractions to the industry of today, tourism and urban places have been in a stable connection.

Design/methodology/approach:

 For this reason, the purpose of studying the effect of tourism development on the happiness of tourists in Yazd city is with the Happy City approach, which is a descriptive-analytical method of application and to collect the required information, both library and field methods are used. Has been. Also, the statistical population considered 400 domestic and foreign tourists entering the city of Yazd in 1398, which were analyzed with SPSS and Amos software.Findings The results show that historical-cultural sites were more than 75% attractive to tourists, but domestic tourists were motivated to study (more than 4 times a night and had happy feelings) and foreign tourists because of culture and style. Life of the residents (they only stayed once between 2 to 4 days and were faced with feelings of astonishment and surprise) chose the destination of Yazd. Also, tourists reported the necessities and tourist attractions of the destination of Yazd city as above average.

that there is a direct and significant relationship between tourists' happiness and tourism development indicators (necessary, attraction and repulsion) in the destination of Yazd.

Originality/value: 

Few studies investigated the relationship between tourism and happiness in developed countries, but in developing countries such as Iran, it has not been studied yet