Social Studies in Tourism: 8 (8)

Open Access Article

1 - Evaluating the socio– cultural impact of tourism on the host community (case study: Baneh)
mehdi karoubi Mohammad r

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

2 - Exploring the Souvenir purchasing behaviour (Case study: Mashhad Pilgrims)

Souvenir purchasing is not only a memento of travel experience, but also a tourist attraction. Furthermore, souvenir shopping is an integral component of one’s travel experience which has a significant proportion of overall travel expenditure in tourism industry turnove More

Souvenir purchasing is not only a memento of travel experience, but also a tourist attraction. Furthermore, souvenir shopping is an integral component of one’s travel experience which has a significant proportion of overall travel expenditure in tourism industry turnover. As a result, market identification is of critical importance to producers, marketers, wholesaler and retailers. However, regarding the souvenir purchasing behaviour not much research has been conducted and this subject is still under study in Iran. With a great number of tourist arrivals and various types of souvenir, Mashhad has a great potential to be considered as a case study. So, the aim of this paper is to explore; what will pilgrims buy and what factors will drive their purchasing behaviour? Accordingly, secondary data analysis has been conducted on the gathered data from Mashhad pilgrims 2010 and 2011 survey. Based on the pilgrims' dominant purchasing choices, four different behaviour was identified: purchasing of cultural symbols, purchasing of local foods, mixed purchasing behaviour of clothes, accessories and cultural signs, and non-purchase behaviour. The most common observed, purchasing behaviour was "mixed purchasing behaviour of clothes, accessories and cultural signs". In addition, the logistic regression test showed that purchasing behaviour was determined by age, place of residence (city), tourist's dominant behaviour in travel (pilgrimage), travel style (travelling in a group or alone) and frequency of travel. Those variables predicted 23% of variance of souvenir purchasing behaviour. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

3 - The Framework for Formulating Tourism Policies of Islamic Republic of Iran
Hamid Zargham Boroojeni

In this article, the researchers have tried to propose a model for formulating tourism policies of Iran in accordance to tourism policies of Five-Year Economic, Social and Cultural Plan and that of Iran Vision of 2025. Hence, a questionnaire composed of 15 questions (wi More

In this article, the researchers have tried to propose a model for formulating tourism policies of Iran in accordance to tourism policies of Five-Year Economic, Social and Cultural Plan and that of Iran Vision of 2025. Hence, a questionnaire composed of 15 questions (with Likert scale) was distributed among tourism experts (university professors, tourism experts at Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization and etc.). The data was then analyzed by use of Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmative Factor Analysis. The results showed that there are four factors (Economic and Supportive, Political, Marketing and Development and Cultural) that can be considered for policy making of Iran, more specifically for future formulation of tourism policies of Iran. The results also showed that marketing and development policies are of highest priority (regarding the experts’ point of view). The importance of different variables was also examined in this article. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

4 - The effect of tourists’ self-concept on satisfaction and their intention to recommend the tourist destination )Case study: Mashhad, Chalidarreh Dam(

Individual self-concept explains and predicts different facets of consumer behavior. This study examined the effects of tourist self-concept on their intention to recommend destination, travel satisfaction and travel experience. The population of this study includes all More

Individual self-concept explains and predicts different facets of consumer behavior. This study examined the effects of tourist self-concept on their intention to recommend destination, travel satisfaction and travel experience. The population of this study includes all tourists who were visiting Chalidarreh dam, among them 308 was selected randomly as the research sample. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire and were analyzed by structural equation modeling and LISREL software. The results show, the perception of travel experience, facilitates the relationship between ideal self-concept and travel satisfaction of tourists. Also the travel satisfaction, facilitates the relationship between perceived experience of travel and the intention to recommend tourist destination. The results of this study can improve the perception of managers which will provide a better understanding of tourist behavior and policy making in the field of tourism marketing. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

5 - Analyzing the barriers of rural tourism development (Case study: Fash Village Kangavar city, Kermanshah province)

Rural tourism is considered as an employment factor and income generator that can be an important solution for social and economic development of rural communities as well as protecting the rural culture and environment. The first step in the development of rural touris More

Rural tourism is considered as an employment factor and income generator that can be an important solution for social and economic development of rural communities as well as protecting the rural culture and environment. The first step in the development of rural tourism is to identify its barriers and challenges. This study will analyze the barriers and challenges of rural tourism, through a qualitative paradigm and a grounded theory, also analysis of variance (ANOVA) was explored in the case study, the village of Fash from Kangavar. Data collection was conducted through, in-depth interviews, direct observations and desk research. The validity of this research was confirmed by experts and specialists such as university professors, experts and managers in Iranin Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO). By using MaxQDA, as a valuable qualitative analyzing software, themes, percentage and frequency of codes were analyzed. The results of the study showed that the main barriers of rural tourism development are: economic problems, socio-cultural problems, managerial-infrastructural problems and informational and publicity problems. Analyze of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey tests revealed that, from villagers’ point of view, the managerial-infrastructural problem has a higher impact whereas experts considered the same range of impact for informational and publicity problems as a barrier for rural tourism development. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

6 - Factors affecting women empowerment with an emphasis on tourism (Case study: Sisakht city)

The present study aims to identify and analyze the factors, affecting empowerment of women with an emphasis on tourism in Sishokht. This is an analytical descriptive study. The research population includes, 2000 women over the age of 15. The sample size of 322 women was More

The present study aims to identify and analyze the factors, affecting empowerment of women with an emphasis on tourism in Sishokht. This is an analytical descriptive study. The research population includes, 2000 women over the age of 15. The sample size of 322 women was selected through simple random sampling. A researcher made questionnaire was used as a main tool for gathering data which its content validity was confirmed by university professors. The calculated Cronbach's alpha, for Leading factors was 817% and for Restricting factors was 756%, which prooved the research instrument has the needed reliability. The results of data analysis, by using factorial analysis, suggested that leading factors by the sum of 0.56 determined dependent variance, with four factors, have a role in women's empowerment; economic factors by identifying 18.341 of total variance of dependent variables, is the first and most important factor. Limiting factors with the sum of 0.58, identified as a dependent variance which have role, with six factors, in restricting tourism development and women's empowerment, and economic factor by 14.221, which is identifying the total variance of dependent variables, was considered as the first factor in limiting factors. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

7 - The Impact of Perceived Value and Sense of Place on Tourist Loyalty (Case Study: Hamedan Province)
mostafa taheri

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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