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    • Open Access Article

      1 - Review of Ecotourism Businesses Based on the Local Economy and Knowledge for Gaining Lessons
      Maryam Mohammadi Helia Zargarimarandi
      Issue 25 , Vol. 12 , Spring 2024
      Making purposeful use of the natural environment, ecotourism plays a crucial role in empowering local communities, whose economy could be improved through the application of local knowledge. Therefore, this study sought to identify the formal-functional criteria affecti More
      Making purposeful use of the natural environment, ecotourism plays a crucial role in empowering local communities, whose economy could be improved through the application of local knowledge. Therefore, this study sought to identify the formal-functional criteria affecting the success of internet-based ecotourism businesses, and the content criteria regarding the local knowledge and economy. Moreover, the study undertook to elaborate on the effective criteria involved in the success of the relevant businesses in Iran. To do so, first, the intended criteria were developed by reviewing the related literature and performing content analysis. Then, the criteria involved in the success or failure of some select Iranian internet-based ecotourism businesses (15 businesses out of the final 44 businesses qualified to be studied in this research, which had been selected and filtered out of 91 businesses in 2019) were identified via expert-oriented quantitative evaluation. Finally, 120 online questionnaires were administered to target groups (Ecotourists and tour guides). The collected data were then analyzed via the SPSS software using Gamma and Contingency Coefficient correlation tests, followed by the validation of the criteria involved in the success of the Iranian internet-based ecotourism businesses. As indicated by the results of the study, providing local guides, organizing tours in untouched regions, and providing the opportunity for tourists to participate in ritual ceremonies were found as the main criteria involved in the success of Internet-based businesses in terms of local knowledge. Moreover, the local-economy-based criteria included the creation of job opportunities by providing a variety of tourism activities and services, providing accommodation, food, services, food, car rental services, etc. On the other hand, offering financial and cultural-educational support through holding free educational courses together with other formal-functional aspects of the platform may also contribute to the success of the aforementioned businesses. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      2 - Identifying the Factors Involved in Applying IoT to Smartening Tourism Destinations Using Future Studies Approach: A Case Study of Fars Province
      Khadije Kaveh maryam nekooeezadeh Moslem  Alimohammadlo
      Issue 25 , Vol. 12 , Spring 2024
      Fars province is one of the main hubs of tourism centers in Iran. Therefore, paying special attention to tourism in the province and using Internet-of-things technology in its tourism management can provide suitable facilities for improving the welfare of its visiting t More
      Fars province is one of the main hubs of tourism centers in Iran. Therefore, paying special attention to tourism in the province and using Internet-of-things technology in its tourism management can provide suitable facilities for improving the welfare of its visiting tourists, thus increasing the visiting rate of its tourist destinations. In this regard, the present study sought to predict and identify the most important factors involved in applying the Internet of Things technology to the Smartization of tourist destinations in Fars province and to develop feasible desirable future scenarios thereof. To this end, the required data for this applied study were collected by conducting interviews, administering questionnaires, and carrying out a systematic review of related literature. Finally, the collected data were analyzed by the Scenario Wizard software using the MICMAC method. The results of the MICMAC analysis revealed the main role of 14 key variables in the application of the Internet of Things technology to the Smartization of tourist destinations in Fars province. On the other hand, two strong scenarios, 1548 weak scenarios, and nine scenarios with high compatibility were obtained using the Scenario Wizard software. Accordingly, the study used the aforementioned nine high-compatibility scenarios, finding that the future of tourism in Fars province would be similar to the current circumstances. It was also found that the trend of changes in the status of tourism would be slow and that the chances of applying the Internet of Things technology to the province’s tourism destinations would be low. Finally, based on the obtained scenarios, the study proposed some strategies to achieve the desired results in smart tourism. Therefore, the results of the current study could help tourism professionals prepare the ground for the application of state-of-the-art technologies such as the Internet of Things to tourism and thus develop the field through setting long-term plans. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      3 - Developing a Green Supply Chain Model for Improving the Sustainable Development of the Environment Using a Grounded-Theory-based Qualitative Approach
      Zahra Delshad Mozhdeh Rabbani Hasan Dehghan Dehnavi
      Issue 25 , Vol. 12 , Spring 2024
      As one of the top ten industries in the world, tourism plays an important role in the economic cycle, contributing significantly to revenue generation and currency earning. Therefore, this study sought to identify and develop a conceptual model for managing the green su More
      As one of the top ten industries in the world, tourism plays an important role in the economic cycle, contributing significantly to revenue generation and currency earning. Therefore, this study sought to identify and develop a conceptual model for managing the green supply chain in the tourism industry of Fars province using the grounded theory-based qualitative approach. To this end, the required data were collected through document analysis and interviews with 20 experts who were selected via the snowball sampling method. Moreover, the validity of the study was examined and confirmed by the interviewees and the expert professors. Finally, the collected data were coded through the open coding, axial coding, and selective coding methods and analyzed via the continuous comparison method, based on which the qualitative model of the study was designed. Accordingly, 120 open codes were extracted from the transcribed version of the interviews, which were then organized in terms of 21 axial codes via MAXQDA software, including causal conditions (green processes, customers and other external institutions, green innovation), contextual conditions (driving forces involved in green materials supply, implementation of the waste management system, financial thoughts, and the organization’s costs), intervening conditions (environmental management approaches, green supply chain risks, green suppliers' capabilities, human resources management), phenomenon-based conditions (the improvement of environmental performance, economic factors, operational performance), strategies (management, technology, economics, policy-making), outcomes (green supply chain enablers, credit enhancement, institutionalization of technology equipment and technical knowledge, energy management and optimization). Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      4 - Investigating the Influence of Internal Marketing on Employees' Job Performance Mediated by Knowledge-sharing and The Moderating Role of Communication: A Case Study of Mashhad’s Four and Five-Star Hotels
      Ghasem Eslami Farshad Ghaderi
      Issue 25 , Vol. 12 , Spring 2024
      Today's social community pays great attention to human resources. In other words, the performance of employees in the service sector, especially the tourism industry, is becoming increasingly important. On the other hand, tourism industry employees contribute significan More
      Today's social community pays great attention to human resources. In other words, the performance of employees in the service sector, especially the tourism industry, is becoming increasingly important. On the other hand, tourism industry employees contribute significantly to creating a competitive advantage, with organizations with better-performing employees experiencing better business growth. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the influence of internal marketing on the employees’ job performance mediated by knowledge sharing and the moderating role of communication. The current study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey in terms of method. The statistical population of the study comprised the 390 employees of four and five-star hotels in Mashhad. The required data were collected from the administered questionnaires, which were then analyzed via structural equation modeling using the AMOS software. The findings of the study indicated that internal marketing exerted a positive significant influence on knowledge sharing and staff performance. Moreover, knowledge sharing was found to have a positive effect on employees' job performance. Furthermore, the positive effects of the moderating role of organizational communication and knowledge sharing were also confirmed. The present research is descriptive-survey in terms of applied purpose and method of work. The statistical population of the study includes the staff of hotels in Mashhad. The collected data from 390 questionnaires were analyzed by structural equation modeling with AMOS software. Findings showed that internal marketing has a positive and significant effect on knowledge sharing and employee performance. At the same time, knowledge sharing has a positive effect on employees' job performance. Another result was that the moderator role of organizational communication was also confirmed. In addition, the role of knowledge sharing interface was also confirmed. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      5 - Investigating the Factors Involved in Tourism Intercultural Communication among Tourists: A Case Study of Hamadan City, Iran
      Golnoush jabbari Nader Jafari haftkhani
      Issue 25 , Vol. 12 , Spring 2024
      In today’s modern world, tourism has turned into an effective way to access the environment and culture through intercultural communication. However, despite its significance in long-term economic development, intercultural communication is neglected in the planning sta More
      In today’s modern world, tourism has turned into an effective way to access the environment and culture through intercultural communication. However, despite its significance in long-term economic development, intercultural communication is neglected in the planning stages of tourism development projects. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the factors that influence intercultural communication in tourism using a grounded theory approach. To this end, the required data were collected through detailed semi-structured interviews with fifteen experts and professionals in the tourism industry of Hamedan City who were selected via snowball sampling. The collected data were then analyzed, and the results were organized under six main categories with twenty-six sub-categories. Finally, the theoretical model of the study was developed using the Atlas-Ti software. Accordingly, the main six categories of the model included personal characteristics, socio-cultural characteristics, education, producing materials and creating knowledge on intercultural issues in tourism, management and planning, the health and safety of the environment, and media and information technology in intercultural tourism communication. The results of this study propose an integrated approach for tourism managers and entrepreneurs so that they can develop a high level of intercultural communication and competence for tourists. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      6 - Developing A Framework for Increasing the Foreign Tourists’ Tendency for Traveling to Iran with an Emphasis on Soft Power
      Shadi Mahmoudi darani Mohammad Mehdi Rahimian Asl Mohammad Hasan Maleki Majid Nili Ahmadabadi
      Issue 25 , Vol. 12 , Spring 2024
      Developed within the past decades as a key concept in international and power relations, soft power emphasizes diplomacy, culture, art, and propaganda instead of hard and coercive aspects of power. As soft power affects the international prestige and credit of countries More
      Developed within the past decades as a key concept in international and power relations, soft power emphasizes diplomacy, culture, art, and propaganda instead of hard and coercive aspects of power. As soft power affects the international prestige and credit of countries, this applied exploratory study sought to elaborate on the role of soft power and its componential elements in attracting foreign tourists. The theoretical population of the study comprised fifteen experts in soft power and tourism who were selected via convenience sampling. To conduct the study, twenty-seven factors were identified by reviewing the related literature on tourism and soft power. The factors were then screened via the Binomial test, out of which seventeen factors were excluded due to their over 5% significance coefficient. The remaining ten factors were then analyzed using the cross-impact analysis (CIA) technique. The results of the study indicated that successful organization of political, artistic, scientific, sports, and literary events at the international level, the presence of foreign companies in the business environment of Iran, cyberspace and social networks, and improving tolerance among influential reference groups in society contributed the most to attracting tourists to Iran. The study was also replicated using the DEMATEL method, producing very similar results compared to the previous test, and the same four factors were identified as the most influential factors in attracting foreign tourists. It should be noted that the DEMATEL method and cross-impact analysis are based on a critical realism approach, considering the fact that they both enjoy structural analysis. Manuscript profile
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    • Open Access Article

      1 - Identifying and Prioritizing Different Aspects of Tourist's Experience Quality from Viewpoints of Foreign Tourists Traveled to Shiraz
      mahdi farmani Mohammad ghaffari Navid Shafiei mostafa zandinasab
      Issue 17 , Vol. 9 , Spring_Summer 2021
      Nowadays, tourist experience and tourist destination choice are the main focal points in the tourism industry and tourism-related subjects addressed at universities. As modern tourists are value-oriented, tourist destinations could only be successful if they create valu More
      Nowadays, tourist experience and tourist destination choice are the main focal points in the tourism industry and tourism-related subjects addressed at universities. As modern tourists are value-oriented, tourist destinations could only be successful if they create value for their visitors. Moreover, the Quality of tourists' experiences is a key competitive advantage for tourist destinations. This descriptive-survey study, therefore, sought to identify and prioritize different aspects of tourist experience quality from the viewpoint of tourists visiting Shiraz. The statistical population of this study comprised of those foreign tourists who visited Shiraz in April and May of 2019 and stayed at the Grand Hotel of Shiraz. To collect the required data, a questionnaire was administered on 400 visitors who were selected via convenience sampling. The questionnaire's construct validity was measured and approved by experts, and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's Alpha. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to identify different aspects of tourist experience quality and validate the identified aspects, respectively, using SPSS and LISREL software. Moreover, to prioritize the aspects, the Shannon Entropy method was implemented in EXCEL software. The study's findings indicated that tourist experience quality consisted of ten aspects. It was also found that perceived interactive experience ranked first in that list from the respondents' standpoint. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      2 - Creating a Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Hotel Sector (The integrated approach of agency theory and Resource Based View)
        mostafa mahmoudi mehdi karoubi akbar pourfaraj
      Issue 14 , Vol. 7 , Autumn_Winter 2019
      This paper studied sustainable competitive advantage in competencies required by the hotel staff to ensure the permanent competitiveness of the hotels. The Resource-based View emphasizes the organizations need to attend internal resources, especially human resources. Th More
      This paper studied sustainable competitive advantage in competencies required by the hotel staff to ensure the permanent competitiveness of the hotels. The Resource-based View emphasizes the organizations need to attend internal resources, especially human resources. The agency approach emphasizes on staff role-play and their interaction within the framework. This research was a developmental-applied and descriptive-quantitative survey. For data collection, we distributed a questionnaire of 73 questions among a random selection of 260 individuals, including the managers and the staff of five-star hotels in Tehran. Using the structural equation modeling, we analyzed the data in both the measuring model section and the structural section to examine the technical features and the research hypothesis, respectively. Findings showed positive and meaningful impacts of the action-framework variable on the competent actor, and the competent actor showed the same impacts on creating a sustainable competitive advantage in the forms of productive, process, and administrative innovations. Based on the results, there was a relationship between the factors of action framework (i.e., mental welfare, affirmative freedom grant, knowledge sharing, revolutionary leadership, organizational equality, providing psychological conventions) and inter-personal, intra-personal skills and managerial skills and organizational competence of the staff. Finally, the hotel managers in Iran were recommended to provide the groundwork for staff role-play and to design job-tests and performance-appraisal standards, based on the skills and competencies identified in this study. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      3 - Studding the Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in hotel industry
        ebtehal zandi
      Issue 5 , Vol. 3 , Spring_Summer 2015

    • Open Access Article

      4 - Typology of Cultural Tourism Action (Case Study: Mashhad pilgrims and tourists)
      Sahar Eghbali Mozhgan  Azimi Hashemi Hamed Bakhshi
      Issue 6 , Vol. 3 , Autumn_Winter 2016
      This study analyzes different types of cultural tourism action and its influencing factors among the pilgrims and tourists in Mashhad. The authors’ theoretical approach is a combination of motivation, attitude and Bourdieu’s capital theory.In this research required data More
      This study analyzes different types of cultural tourism action and its influencing factors among the pilgrims and tourists in Mashhad. The authors’ theoretical approach is a combination of motivation, attitude and Bourdieu’s capital theory.In this research required data were collected by means of a questionnaire with the sample size of 302, pilgrims and tourists, in Mashhad during March 2013(Iranian New Year holidays). Based on the research findings, the cultural tourists are divided into three categories: “specific cultural tourists” including tourists whose traveling aim is visiting cultural destination, “general cultural tourists” including tourists that during their travels, they will visit cultural destinations as well and “incidental cultural tourists” including tourists that accidentally and unknowingly will visit cultural destinations. Also, the results indicated that facilities will affect both attitudes and motivations toward cultural travel. Coefficient of determination model showed that the entered variables explain 45 % of the dependent variable variations (cultural travel action) and education level have the greatest effect on the variable of cultural travel action. Regarding the results, there are appropriate potential in order to promote cultural tourism, which will help tourists to gain more experiences while visiting cultural attractions and /or taking part in cultural events. Furthermore, it seems educated people are the main participants of this type of tourism. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      5 - Factors Affecting satisfaction and support of tourism in rural areas (Case study: Masjedsoleiman, Andika, and Lali Counties)
      alireza ahmadi
      Issue 6 , Vol. 3 , Autumn_Winter 2016
      One of the effective factors in the process of developing tourism is to consider the host community in the tourism areas and their satisfaction of such activities. Success of each tourism project is required raising knowledge and determination of effective factors on sa More
      One of the effective factors in the process of developing tourism is to consider the host community in the tourism areas and their satisfaction of such activities. Success of each tourism project is required raising knowledge and determination of effective factors on satisfaction and support of host community. Because of this, the study was aimed to determine the effective factors influencing the local residents’ satisfaction of tourism and also their support of this activity. In this research, a survey method was conducted. The population of this study includes all rural areas’ residents of Masjedsoleiman, Andika and Lali counties in Khuzestan province which benefits from Stratified random sampling with the sample size of 250. Data was collected by using questionnaires which its validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was approved by Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0/63 to 0/92). The results of the correlation test showed that the residents’ satisfaction of tourist areas has a meaningful relation (0/1) with perceived quality (r = 0/342), perceived image (r = 0/178), and commitment (r = 0/481) variables; and residents’ support variable (r = 0/442) was significantly associated and has a meaningful relation (0/1) with the variables of perceived quality (0/5), perceived value (0/179), perceived image (r =0/328), commitment (r = 0/567) and satisfaction (r = 0/451). Moreover, the results of regression analysis indicated that the variables of commitment, satisfaction and perceived image could explain a total of 38/2 % of the variations in residents’ support, and also the variable of perceived quality could explain a total of 11.7 % of the variation in residents’ satisfaction. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      6 - The effect of religious tourism on quality of life and social capital of rural households (Case Study: Bardy village, Dehloran County).
      Javad Alibeigi
      Issue 6 , Vol. 3 , Autumn_Winter 2016
      Religious tourism is one of the oldest forms of tourism that has been considered by human beings which caused changes in the quality of life and social capital of the host society through changes between their interactions. This phenomenon is more obvious in third world More
      Religious tourism is one of the oldest forms of tourism that has been considered by human beings which caused changes in the quality of life and social capital of the host society through changes between their interactions. This phenomenon is more obvious in third world countries’ rural areas that are experiencing their early stages of tourism development. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of religious tourism on quality of life and social capital of rural households in Bardi village, Dehloran County. This is an applied research, which benefits from descriptive and analytical method. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire, interviews, observation and desk research while data analysis was done through descriptive and inferential statistics method (Friedman and Wilcoxon tests). The study population was 165 households and 857 people of Bardy village according to 2011 census. Accordingly 102 households were chosen as sample size based on Cochran formula. Research findings show that religious tourism has affected and improved their quality of life in all aspects, including social, environmental (higher than average) and economical, physical (on average), also research findings regarding the social capital component shows that, after the expansion of religious tourism, social participation, social networks and social cohesion has improved, but the aspect of social trust has been reduced dramatically. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      7 - Evaluating the socio– cultural impact of tourism on the host community (case study: Baneh)
      mehdi karoubi   Mohammad r
      Issue 8 , Vol. 4 , Autumn_Winter 2016
      The presence of tourists at every country will influence the pattern of life, of the local people. Also, visitors will be affected by the culture and existing values of the host country. In this research, we studied the positive and negative effects of tourism developme More
      The presence of tourists at every country will influence the pattern of life, of the local people. Also, visitors will be affected by the culture and existing values of the host country. In this research, we studied the positive and negative effects of tourism development on the host community. This research was conducted by survey method and benefited of schedule interview (Baneh households). The sample size of this research was 369 (people) and it was done through Multi-stage cluster sampling method. Cronbach's alpha was 70 percent which showed relatively a high reliability. Regression analysis has been considered for the data analysis and hypotheses testing. Analysis of the data, shows that the most efficient factor in prediction of dependent variable "change in the host community", is cultural change. After that, conspicuous consumption and cultural adaption have the highest influence on the host community attitude change. Cultural Commodification has lower effect on changing the host community attitude comparing to other indicators. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      8 - The Impact of Green Human Resource Management on Environmental Performance of Hotel Employees
      Abbas Ali  Rastegar Mehdi Sabokro morteza Maleki Minbash Razgah hooshmand bagheri garbollagh
      Issue 14 , Vol. 7 , Autumn_Winter 2019
      Managing human resources in eco-friendly management of the hotels remains a relatively unexplored subject. The hotel industry is a sector that largely burdens the environment. Given the many environmental issues that the hotel industry created, sustainable business prac More
      Managing human resources in eco-friendly management of the hotels remains a relatively unexplored subject. The hotel industry is a sector that largely burdens the environment. Given the many environmental issues that the hotel industry created, sustainable business practices such as green human resource management is essential. This study examined the ways to improve employees’ eco-friendly behavior and hotels’ environmental performance through green human resource management. The paper followed an applied method with a descriptive-exploratory correlation approach. Exemplary samples of 236 hotel employees (concerned with environmental issues) were randomly selected in the cities of Tabriz, Tehran, and Mashhad. Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability were used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. To determine validity, we used convergent and divergent validity. The hypotheses of the research were tested using structural equation modeling. The findings showed that green human resource management had a positive and significant effect on the employees’ organizational commitment, eco-friendly behavior, and the hotels’ environmental performance. The organizational commitment, too, had a positive and significant effect on the employees’ eco-friendly behavior. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      9 - Socio - economic factors affecting overnight stays of domestic tourists (case study: Mashhad)
      Hadi Rafiy    
      Issue 7 , Vol. 4 , Spring_Summer 2016
      Tourist overnight stays is a key factor in decision making process for tourists and it has a fundamental importance for tourism destinations. Length of stay is one of the most important determinants of tourism which affects the economy of a region. Mashhad is one of the More
      Tourist overnight stays is a key factor in decision making process for tourists and it has a fundamental importance for tourism destinations. Length of stay is one of the most important determinants of tourism which affects the economy of a region. Mashhad is one of the tourist destinations which its tourists and pilgrims was increased in number but their average length of stay was decreased recently. According to statistics, about 75 percent of pilgrims and tourists of Mashhad stay less than a week and only 25% of them are staying more than one week and the overnight stay average of Mashhad pilgrims is 5/43 days. The main objective of this study is to identify the socio-economic factors affecting the overnight stays of tourists and pilgrims in Mashhad. For this purpose, 692 questionnaires were completed randomly among tourists and pilgrims of Mashhad in spring 2015. Data were evaluated by Ordered Logit Model. The length of stay (the dependent variable) is classified into three groups; less than five days, between 5 to 7 days and more than 7 days. Results showed that the type of trip (Lonely), the frequency of traveling to Mashhad , the number of family members accompanying during the trips, food preparing ways and education level, have significant negative effects and the type of transportation (train) and income level (between 10.000.000 – 20.000.000 IRR) have significant positive effects on tourists and pilgrims overnight stay in Mashhad. Manuscript profile

    • Open Access Article

      10 - The Impact of Perceived Value and Sense of Place on Tourist Loyalty (Case Study: Hamedan Province)
      mostafa taheri
      Issue 8 , Vol. 4 , Autumn_Winter 2016
      The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors that impact tourist loyalty from two perspectives: “perceived value” and “sense of place”. The study aims to answer the following questions: Are there any relations between the dimensions of perceived value and sense More
      The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors that impact tourist loyalty from two perspectives: “perceived value” and “sense of place”. The study aims to answer the following questions: Are there any relations between the dimensions of perceived value and sense of place with loyalty to the destination brand? If so, to what extent are they correlated? Which dimensions play a more important role? Sample size was determined by using Cochran’s formula. A total of 384 questionnaires were randomly destributed between tourists in Hamedan Province during summer 2016. Given the Pearson correlation coefficients, the dimensions of perceived value (Functional, emotional, and social value) and sense of place (identity, dependence, and attachment) were found to be associated with tourist loyalty to destination brand. Standardized R2 was 45.9 and nearly 45 percent of the variation in tourist loyalty was explained by the model. Perceived Functional value and sense of dependence were the strongest predictors of loyalty, followed by perceived emotional value, social value, sense of attachment, and sense of identity, respectively. Manuscript profile
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