Measuring and Evaluating the Consequences of COVID-19 on Urban Tourism Destinations: A case study of Ardabil City

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Department of Human Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Kharazmi, Iran

10.22059/jut.2025.375363.1203

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
The COVID-19 crisis is a widespread pandemic; it affected the structure, planning, economic, and social activities of tourist cities and made its continuation passive. The research aims to explain the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis on the urban tourism destinations of Ardabil. The logical approach governing the research is the inductive-comparative approach. The research is of a cognitive-analytical type, and from the point of view of method and nature, it is a type of post-event analysis. T-test and Friedman test were used to analyze the data, and a simulation of cause-effect relationships was performed in the Vensim environment. The obtained findings showed that the elements (primary and secondary) of urban tourism in Ardabil, before and after the COVID-19 period, underwent changes due to the COVID-19 crisis, and it shows a significant difference between the primary elements of tourism in the two periods, which is evident through the decrease in importance in the period during and after the COVID-19 period. Also, the analysis of the secondary elements of tourism showed that the highest importance and ranking for the period during and after the COVID-19 virus, respectively, include access to guest houses and hotels, the appearance and prospects of the tourism environment, the transportation status of the tourism area of Ardabil city, accurate information, etc., which are different. It is COVID-19 from the previous period. Also, the simulation of cause-effect relationships showed that there are two rings, R1 and R2, in the urban tourism model of Ardabil, which have decreasing and increasing effects and also show a mediating and mediating process on the primary and secondary elements.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The city is basically a living organism consisting of complex communications, comprehensive behaviors, and unpredictable nonlinear characteristics, which subsystems and subsystems such as tourism, land, urban housing, the body of the city, etc., operate in this complex system. Meanwhile, one of the most important urban subsystems is a subsystem of tourism, which is a multi-dimensional system that affects various aspects of human life, including economic, social, cultural, political, environmental, and physical in the territory. In fact, tourism is a production and consumption industry, the development of which has always helped to increase employment and national income and has created demand for many goods and services. Tourism is characterized as an open system with a high degree of connection with the environment, which is influenced by many inputs and outputs. Numerous interactions with different aspects of the outside world affect the tourism system and the environment. So, tourism, especially urban tourism, should be considered a system; without a systemic approach, all its dimensions are not considered. In this framework, the outbreak of COVID-19 has severely affected urban tourism. Therefore, the researcher is trying to consider the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis on Ardabil's urban tourism with an emphasis on primary and secondary elements.
 
Methodology
This research is positivist in terms of the type of philosophy, and the logical approach governing the research is the inductive-deductive approach. This research generally has two main parts, the first part includes the evaluation of primary and secondary elements in the period before Corona, during and after Corona, and the second part includes determining the cause-effect relationships of these elements and the degree of influence of the structures on each other. After extensive studies and consultation with professors, a researcher-made questionnaire was prepared, and to measure the validity of the questionnaire, after the approval of experts and professors, the final version of the questionnaire was obtained. The statistical population of the current research includes the relevant experts (experts, officials, and professors in the fields related to the subject), and the nature of the obtained data is qualitative and quantitative. Statistics and branches and descriptive and inferential techniques were used to analyze the data.
 
Results and discussion
In the primary elements, there is a difference between the two periods (before and after COVID-19), which is shown through a decrease in the average during and after COVID-19. The average of the secondary elements obtained in the pre-COVID-19 period is much higher than the secondary elements in the COVID-19 period. The general results of ranking for tourism elements before the COVID-19 period and during and after the COVID-19 period indicate that there is a significant difference in the average before the COVID-19 period and during and after the COVID-19 period, which is important for the two primary structures and secondary is generally considered. The comparison of the average ranking for the primary elements shows that the highest average for the pre-COVID-19 period in Ardabil urban tourism is the status of natural attractions, the status of food tourism, etc. Also, the ranking order of importance for the period during and after the COVID-19 period, respectively, includes the state of food tourism, the state of recreational and night tourism, etc. There is a significant difference between the research sub-variables in terms of importance. These sub-variables do not have the same value and importance, but they have a significant difference. The implementation of cause-effect relationships between the sub-system of urban tourism in Ardabil and the COVID-19 pandemic showed that urban tourism in Ardabil is a dynamic system that involves positive and sometimes negative actions and reactions with each other (other components), which is an example of input and the entropy of COVID-19 has brought a negative trend for urban tourism in Ardabil.
 
Conclusion
The results showed that there are two circles, R1 and R2, between the pandemic of the COVID-19 crisis and urban tourism in Ardabil, and circle R1 is related to two main variables, which is a negative trend in the relationship between the pandemic the COVID-19 crisis and urban tourism in Ardabil and a positive trend in the COVID-19 period for the relationship between the urban tourism of Ardabil showed the pandemic. Also, the result of the model diagram showed that the declining trend of urban tourism in Ardabil during the COVID-19 period is a clear trend (the trend of decreasing tourism); this also shows a significant and verifiable agreement with the results obtained from the evaluation and measurement.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Keywords

References

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urban tourism
Volume 12, Issue 3
October 2025
Pages 57-79

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