Relationship between destination image and satisfaction in inbound tourists of Isfahan

Introduction

The image of the destination means a set of beliefs and attitudes towards the travel destination (Jani, Nguni, 2016). It is considered one of the most effective factors in choosing a destination and travel behavior.

Today, tourism has become an important industry, and its success requires presenting a favorable and distinct image from other competitors. The current paper aims to study the destination's image for the tourists entering Iran before and after the trip. The main factor of this process is managing perception and creating an attractive and distinct image of the destination.

Iran, a historical-cultural country with various tourist attractions, is considered a suitable destination for foreign tourists. However, despite its great capacity to attract foreign tourists, Iran has remained neglected in the tourism market. It has accounted for less than one percent (0.84) of the share of tourism income in the world. This amount is in the situation that Iran ranks tenth in the world in terms of historical and ancient attractions and fifth in the world in terms of ecotourism. Gaining the satisfaction of tourists and presenting a favorable image to their expectations will lead to the growth and prosperity of tourism and improve the image of Iran in the world arena.

The current research seeks to answer these questions: What is the difference between the image of the former and the latter destination of foreign tourists in the country? And what is the relationship between tourists' destination image and travel satisfaction?







Methodology

This research has been done with the secondary analysis method on the data of the first wave of Iran's national tourism survey. The statistical population included tourists entering Iran, and the sample size was estimated to be 382 based on Cochran's sampling formula.

The foreign tourists present in Isfahan were asked what they thought about the nine components of tourist attractions: weather, infrastructure, transportation, restaurants and food, shopping markets, security, and the host people before traveling to Iran and after the experience. What do you think about traveling to Iran? The participants' responses are placed on a Likert scale (very good - very bad).



Results and discussion

To evaluate the image of tourists from Iran, the present study used six tangible components, including tourist attractions, weather, infrastructure, transportation, restaurants and food, and shopping markets, and two abstract components, including security and people, which in all cases The average image of the destination after the trip to Iran was higher than the image of the destination before the journey. Also, this desirability for the people and security component has brought the most changes for tourists before and after their trip to Iran. The results of this research showed that the most effective factors in the afterimage of the destination among foreign tourists are the reliability of the people and satisfaction with the accommodation, satisfaction with the food, and hospitality of the Iranian people.



Conclusion





This study showed that Iran is a more suitable and desirable destination for elderly foreign tourists than young tourists. Therefore, due to the growth of elderly tourism worldwide, efforts should be made to pay more and better attention to the infrastructure conditions and facilities older people need in Iran. On the other hand, efforts and planning to attract other age groups should not be neglected. The main purpose of foreign tourists traveling to Iran is to visit tourist attractions, especially historical and natural ones. This shows that efforts to preserve and maintain these monuments and attractions are important for the growth of Iran's tourism industry.

Also, the importance of nutrition during travel is not less than accommodation and other matters. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to the quality and variety of food according to the cultural differences among different nations.

The result is that if we want to look for the factors with the most impact on the image of the destination in foreign tourists among the various components related to satisfaction, the two main characteristics are related to the people of the destination community, with the priority of trustworthiness and politeness and respect, and the other two factors It is related to food and accommodation. This result is important because it guides those involved in the tourism industry to prioritize strengthening different parts of the tourism service chain. Certainly, the limitation of budgets and facilities does not allow simultaneous and comprehensive strengthening of the service chain. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to prioritize different areas for strengthening.



Funding

There is no funding support.



Authors’ Contribution

The authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All authors approved the manuscript's content and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest, but none.



Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no conflict of interest.



Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.