Analysis of Factors Affecting Competitiveness in Urban Tourism Destinations: Tehran Metropolis

Document Type : Article extracted From phd dissertation

Authors

1 Department of Management, Abhar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran

2 Department of Management, Hidaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hidaj, Iran

3 Department of Management, Takestan Institute of Higher Education, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
The competitiveness of urban tourism destinations is a determining factor for attracting tourists to use the benefits of tourism. In this study, an attempt was made to analyze and examine the factors affecting competitiveness in tourist destinations in Tehran. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The statistical population of this study is tourists entering Tehran. In order to determine the sample size, due to the lack of a statistical population, the Cochran formula for an unlimited population was used, and the sample size was estimated at 384 people. The validity of the research tool was calculated using the confirmatory factor analysis model, and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and LISREL software with descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. The findings showed that destination creativity has a significant effect on tourism competitiveness in Tehran, and destination marketing has a significant effect on the competitiveness of tourist destinations in Tehran. Another result of this study is that the mental image of the destination has a significant impact on the competitiveness of tourism destinations in Tehran. Among the variables considered in terms of impact, the mental image variable ranks first, destination creativity ranks second, and marketing ranks third.
 
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Despite having many capacities in the field of tourism, Tehran has unfortunately not yet been able to achieve its real status and reputation in this field, and despite the international index of the abundance of cultural and natural attractions, the status of tourism in Tehran has not changed in recent years. Naturally, in every country, metropolitan cities, due to their different potentials, are responsible for a large part of attracting domestic and foreign tourists and providing them with services, whether they are tourist destinations or not, and in a way, most of the income from tourism and its added value is obtained in metropolitan cities; but sometimes, like the metropolis of Tehran, these metropolitan cities cannot attract tourists in proportion to their existing potentials and perform well against their competitors; even if they have higher potentials, this is also reflected at the country level. Thus, it is necessary to examine the factors affecting the competitiveness of tourism in these centers so that appropriate decisions can be made based on the output for the optimal use of this profitable, clean, and low-cost industry. Therefore, Tehran tourism requires comprehensive and appropriate planning in its tourism destinations in order to provide a basis for its competitiveness. By understanding the above, this research has been formulated to respond to the following hypotheses:
The first hypothesis is that destination creativity has a significant impact on the competitiveness of tourism in Tehran.
The second hypothesis is that destination marketing has a significant impact on the competitiveness of tourism destinations in Tehran.
The third hypothesis: The mental image of the destination has a significant impact on the competitiveness of tourism destinations in Tehran.
 
Methodology
The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. Library and field methods were used to collect data. The statistical population of this study was tourists entering Tehran, and the sample size was estimated to be 384 people using the Cochran formula. The sampling method was simple random sampling. A questionnaire was used to collect field data. This study used structural equation modeling to respond to the hypotheses and analyze the data. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured by calculating Cronbach's alpha and the composite reliability coefficient (CR). The value of Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability coefficient for each variable is between zero and one, and if the value obtained is higher than 0.7, the questionnaire has appropriate reliability. The results of the Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability value confirm the appropriate reliability of the questionnaire used. The validity of the questionnaire was also confirmed in two stages as face validity and implicit validity, through obtaining opinions from professors and experts, and divergent validity was confirmed by calculating the average variance extracted (AVE) index.
 
Results and discussion
The findings of this study showed that the creativity of tourist destinations has a significant effect on the competitiveness of tourist destinations, with a path coefficient of 0.23. In explaining the findings of this study, it can be stated that creativity refers to the fact that tourists in tourist destinations not only cause the city to be exposed to attention by their physical presence and by exposing cultural heritage but also by consuming local cultural products and local events and, on the side, by observing the city, exploiting the services provided, engineering communications, education and training systems, and transportation systems can be perceived as a source of inspiration; of course, if tourists convey what they have seen to those around them.
Concerning destination marketing has a significant effect on the competitiveness of tourist destinations in Tehran. The results confirmed it in such a way that the path coefficient obtained is equal to a positive 0.20. In explaining the results of this section, it can be stated that among the factors that can develop and improve the country's tourism industry is the use of effective marketing tools and parameters. In this regard, tourism marketing is critical because if we consider marketing to be a management process, all planning activities for preparing tourism products and attracting tourists require marketing operations and activities.
In relation to the third hypothesis of the study, the mental image of the destination has a significant impact on the competitiveness of tourism destinations in Tehran. The results of its confirmation were that the path coefficient obtained was equal to 0.45. In explaining the results of this hypothesis, it can be stated that the mental image of the tourist destination plays a key role in choosing a tourist destination, the decision-making process, and the activities of interest to tourists in the destination. On the other hand, some authors state that marketing the mental image of the tourist destination is the starting point of successful tourism marketing.
 
Conclusion
Tehran is one of the metropolises with many capabilities for developing urban tourism due to its diverse tourist attractions and can become one of the main tourist destinations. However, these attractions alone cannot guarantee the success of Tehran's urban tourism industry, and appropriate management programs must be implemented for its development, including increasing the city's competitiveness compared to other tourism destinations. Obviously, various factors affect the competitiveness of urban tourism destinations, and they must be identified. Therefore, this study analyzed the factors affecting competitiveness in urban tourism destinations in Tehran. The results of this study showed that the competitiveness of tourism in Tehran is influenced by various factors such as destination creativity, marketing, and the mental image of the tourism destination. Among the identified factors, the mental image factor has the most significant impact on making the tourism destinations of the Tehran metropolis competitive. After the mental image factor, the creativity variable of tourism destinations had the most significant impact on the competitiveness of the tourism destinations of the Tehran metropolis.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
The authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of this article. All authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work. Declaration of competing interests: None.
 
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Keywords

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urban tourism
Volume 12, Issue 2
August 2025
Pages 99-117

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