Social Studies in Tourism: 27 (27)

Open Access Article

1 - Developing DEMATEL-CODAS Hybrid Model for Identifying Effective Strategies Involved in Investor Confidence in Crowdfunding of Religious Tourism Projects
Mohammad yahyaei Mohammad Hasan Maleki mohammad Reza pourfakharan Hossein izadi

<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family More

Religious tourism has been the subject of many studies in recent years, leading to the development of a wide variety of cultural and spiritual entrepreneurial projects, ideas, and businesses to provide cultural products and services. However, the success of such projects mainly depends on proper financing as a basic requirement in this regard. Thus, considering the special nature of businesses related to religious tourism, it seems that crowdfunding can perform well in financing such projects and businesses. Therefore, this applied quantitative study sought to identify and prioritize the factors involved in building confidence in investors to participate in crowdfunding projects defined in religious tourism. To this end, fuzzy DELPHI, DEMATEL, and CODAS methods were used to analyze the collected data. In this regard, first, fifteen factors that may influence the confidence of investors in crowdfunding projects regarding religious tourism were identified through a systematic review of the related literature, which were then screened via the fuzzy Delphi technique, and six factors were excluded. Then, the remaining nine factors were examined in terms of impact rate using the DEMATEL technique. Accordingly, five factors were found to have a net positive effect, indicating that they were more effective than other identified factors. Finally, those five factors were prioritized using the CODAS distance technique. According to the results of the study, cultural policy-making at the macro level, positive cultural and spiritual influence of the project on society, and the entrepreneur's experiences and expertise in cultural and spiritual projects were found to bear the highest priorities, respectively. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

2 - Identifying and Prioritizing Strategies to Develop Cultural Heritage Tourism in Iran
Zahra Moaven Moslem Bagheri ّFatemeh Shekari Ali Asghar Mobasheri Mehrdad Kiani

Considering the significance of herit More

Considering the significance of heritage tourism as one of the most important and increasingly welcomed types of tourism worldwide, and Iran's potential in this regard, this study set out to identify and prioritize the strategies that can contribute to the development of heritage tourism in Iran using a mixed-method approach. To this end, thirty practitioners and experts in the relevant field were interviewed to identify the intended strategies. The collected data were then analyzed using thematic analysis. Accordingly, three main strategies (dimensions) and 15 sub-strategies were identified. In the quantitative phase of the study, a questionnaire was designed based on the above-mentioned strategies and sub-strategies, asking eight tourism experts to prioritize them by responding to the items embedded within the questionnaire. The data were then analyzed using the type 2 fuzzy analytical hierarchical process (AHP) method.  Accordingly, the study found that marketing, human resources, and infrastructural strategies were the most crucially important ones for developing Iran’s cultural heritage tourism, respectively. As for the sub-strategies, offering public instructions, improving the destination’s image, organizing retraining courses, and continuously developing professional skills for current active tourism staff were found to be the most essential ones, respectively. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

3 - Investigating the Influence of Medical Tourists’ Experience on Brand Loyalty in Tehran Medical Centers
Abolfazl Tajzadehnamin Mona Salimi amirreza tajzadeh namin

Medical tourism has considerably develo More

Medical tourism has considerably developed in recent years. Many patients travel to other countries to receive healthcare services. In this regard, medical tourists’ positive experiences of the services they receive make them loyal to the destination, being influenced by the prestige and reputation of the target destination and the patient’s perceived value of the healthcare centers’ brands. Therefore, as Tehran possesses the most advanced medical centers, including hospitals, clinics, and specialty clinics, this applied descriptive-correlational study sought to investigate the influence of medical tourists’ experience on destination loyalty, taking the intervening role of prestige and perceived value of the target medical centers’ brands into account. To this end, the required data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire. The population consisted of medical tourists who visited medical centers in District 1 of Tehran, out of whom 384 individuals were selected through convenience sampling. Finally, the collected data were analyzed via SPSS (Version 25) and Smart pls3 software using the Structural Equation Modeling. The study’s findings indicated that medical tourists’ experience exerted a positive significant influence on the destination’s prestige, perceived value, and loyalty. Moreover, it was found that the loyalty to the destination increased by an increase in medical tourists’ experience. Therefore, the prestige and perceived value of the destination’s medical centers must be greatly attended to. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

4 - Investigating Thematic Developments of Islamic and Halal Tourism Studies: a Bibliometric Analysis
Fatemeh Azizi

Medical tourism has considerably develo More

Medical tourism has considerably developed in recent years. Many patients travel to other countries to receive healthcare services. In this regard, medical tourists’ positive experiences of the services they receive make them loyal to the destination, being influenced by the prestige and reputation of the target destination and the patient’s perceived value of the healthcare centers’ brands. Therefore, as Tehran possesses the most advanced medical centers, including hospitals, clinics, and specialty clinics, this applied descriptive-correlational study sought to investigate the influence of medical tourists’ experience on destination loyalty, taking the intervening role of prestige and perceived value of the target medical centers’ brands into account. To this end, the required data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire. The population consisted of medical tourists who visited medical centers in District 1 of Tehran, out of whom 384 individuals were selected through convenience sampling. Finally, the collected data were analyzed via SPSS (Version 25) and Smart pls3 software using the Structural Equation Modeling. The study’s findings indicated that medical tourists’ experience exerted a positive significant influence on the destination’s prestige, perceived value, and loyalty. Moreover, it was found that the loyalty to the destination increased by an increase in medical tourists’ experience. Therefore, the prestige and perceived value of the destination’s medical centers must be greatly attended to. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

5 - Phenomenology of Greenism in Hamedan Province Hotels
Arash Zinati Mahmoud Hassan Pour Roozbeh Mirzaei

There is a growing tendency to judge businesses based on their social and environmental responsibility. Hotels are among businesses that are seeking out legitimacy within their social milieu. Research findings show that an increasing number of tourists are willing to More

There is a growing tendency to judge businesses based on their social and environmental responsibility. Hotels are among businesses that are seeking out legitimacy within their social milieu. Research findings show that an increasing number of tourists are willing to select hotels that act more responsibly towards the environment, the so-called ‘green hotels’. It is expected that Iranian hotels will begin to think about a transition towards green hotels. The main aim of the present study is to provide an in-depth description of hotels’ tendency to become environment-friendly in Hamedan province, western Iran. Our study of greenism follows a phenomenological method with a descriptive-interpretive approach. The population of the study consists of the 17 hotels in Hamedan province. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the managers of eight of these hotels. The interviews contained five general questions. They were keyed in and coded in MAXQDA 2020 software package for qualitative analysis. Finally, three main categories as well as several secondary categories were identified and a conceptual model was developed. The findings suggest that the phenomenon of greenism in the hotels of Hamedan province is actively practiced in terms of supply and remarkable measures have been taken in this regard. However, there is little demand on the part of clients. The phenomenon of greenism in the hotels of this region essentially revolves around saving and reduction of costs. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

6 - Investigating Potentials and Limitations of Iran Tourism Branding in Comparison with the Middle Eastern Countries
Mohammadreza Rozbahany Ahmad Abu Hamzah kiyan shakarami

Considering the significance of the t More

Considering the significance of the tourism industry at the international level, many countries are trying to improve their competitive position and subsequently the quality of their public life by proper planning and earning more revenues from the industry. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the potentials and limitations of Iran's tourism branding in comparison with the Middle Eastern countries, using the data collected from administering a questionnaire from 2019 to 2020. The collected data were then analyzed via Meta-SWOT and Morphol models. The findings of the study revealed that Iran had obtained 3 points out of 5 possible points in terms of the tourism attraction index. In this regard, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia possess the highest ranking, obtaining scores of 3.80, 3.30, and 3.20, respectively. However, Syria and Iraq are ranked at the lowest level, being scored 2 and 2.20, respectively. In terms of the income generation index, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia each are placed at the top of the ranking by gaining a score of 3.30, and Syria and Iraq are ranked the lowest, with their scores being 2.90 and 2.80, respectively. Generally, the results indicated that Iran's tourism branding has an unstable status compared to other Middle Eastern countries and that it needs to basically change its strategy in this regard. Manuscript profile

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