1. Developing a Model of Potential Tourists’ Image of Iran as Tourist Destination
- Author
-
Somayeh Mahmood, Bahram Ranjbaryan, and Said Fathi
- Subjects
destination image ,macro image ,motivation ,communication activities ,mixed method approach ,Management. Industrial management ,HD28-70 ,Management of special enterprises ,HD62.2-62.8 - Abstract
The purpose of this study first is to develop a model to measure Iran’s Image from the perspective of those who have not visited Iran and then to investigate the effects of some factors such as Macro image of the destination, tourists’ motivation for travelling to Iran and marketing communication activities of the destination on the dimensions of the destination image. In the research, a mixed approach was adopted. The statistical populations of both quantitative and qualitative studies include members of Couch surfing and Linked-in social networks. For this purpose, a sample of 74 potential tourists were participated in the qualitative study and 520 ones were participated in the quantitative study. In order to identify the dimensions of the destination image, the content analysis technique was employed. The participants of the quantitative study were selected through a convenient sampling method. In order to identify the dimensions of the destination image exploratory factor analysis was applied. The research data were analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis in the AMOS software. The findings showed that Macro image of Iran, tourists’ motivation for traveling to Iran and marketing communication activities of the destination affect the dimensions and overall image of Iran. Destination image in turn affects the tourists’ intention to visit Iran.
- Published
- 2016