Introduction

Tourism has become one of the most influential sectors contributing to economic growth, social development, and regional competitiveness worldwide. In the contemporary tourism market, destinations compete intensely to attract visitors, investments, and attention. Consequently, destination branding has emerged as a strategic tool for creating a distinctive identity and competitive advantage. A successful tourism brand is not solely dependent on natural attractions or cultural resources; rather, it is strongly associated with tourists’ experiences, perceptions, and satisfaction levels.

Place branding refers to a strategic process aimed at creating, managing, and enhancing the image and reputation of a geographical location in the minds of stakeholders. Tourist satisfaction plays a central role in this process because positive experiences influence destination image, loyalty, revisit intentions, and word-of-mouth promotion.

The Holiday Satisfaction (HOLSAT) model provides a valuable framework for evaluating tourist satisfaction by comparing pre-travel expectations with post-travel perceptions. Although HOLSAT has been widely applied in tourism satisfaction studies, its integration into place branding research remains limited, particularly in emerging tourism destinations. Masal County, located in Gilan Province, Iran, possesses significant tourism potential due to its unique natural landscapes, mountainous environments, forests, waterfalls, and rural attractions. Despite these strengths, insufficient infrastructure and the absence of a coherent branding strategy have restricted its ability to establish a strong tourism brand. Therefore, this study aims to examine the role of the HOLSAT model in evaluating and enhancing place branding by investigating the relationships among tourism quality dimensions, tourist satisfaction, destination image, and place branding.



Methodology

This research adopted a descriptive-analytical and correlational design using a quantitative approach. The statistical population consisted of tourists visiting Masal County during the first half of 2025. Based on Cochran’s formula and the Krejcie-Morgan table, a sample size of 381 respondents was required. To improve reliability, 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 456 valid responses were analyzed.

The questionnaire consisted of three sections. The first section collected demographic information. The second section measured tourist expectations and perceptions using the HOLSAT framework across six dimensions: tourist attractions, tourism infrastructure, safety and security, local hospitality, cultural events, and environmental cleanliness. The third section assessed destination image and place branding indicators.

Content validity was confirmed by tourism experts and academics. Reliability analysis using Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency for all constructs. Data analysis included paired-sample t-tests for expectation-perception gap assessment and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS software. Mediation effects were examined using the Baron and Kenny approach and Variance Accounted For (VAF) analysis.

Results and Discussion

The findings revealed significant gaps between tourists’ expectations and perceptions in most dimensions of destination quality. Environmental cleanliness and tourism infrastructure exhibited the largest negative gaps, indicating that actual experiences did not fully meet tourists’ expectations. Cultural events also demonstrated a substantial negative gap. Conversely, local hospitality was the only dimension in which perceptions exceeded expectations. This finding highlights the importance of social interactions and community behavior in shaping positive tourism experiences and strengthening destination identity. Structural equation modeling results demonstrated satisfactory model fit. All six tourism quality dimensions exerted significant positive effects on overall tourist satisfaction. Tourist attractions emerged as the strongest predictor of satisfaction (β = 0.412), confirming the critical role of Masal’s natural resources in creating positive tourism experiences.

Tourism infrastructure showed the strongest direct influence on destination image (β = 0.356), indicating that transportation facilities, accommodations, accessibility, and public services significantly shape tourists’ perceptions of the destination.

The results further demonstrated that tourist satisfaction positively influenced destination image, while destination image significantly enhanced place branding. These findings support the theoretical assumption that satisfaction serves as a bridge connecting service quality to destination branding outcomes.

Mediation analysis revealed that tourist satisfaction played a strong mediating role between tourism quality dimensions and place branding. The VAF value of 0.68 indicated substantial indirect effects, suggesting that improvements in destination quality primarily influence branding outcomes through enhanced satisfaction and destination image.

The predictive relevance and explanatory power of the model were confirmed through R², f², and Q² statistics. The results demonstrated that destination quality dimensions explained a considerable proportion of variance in tourist satisfaction, while satisfaction and destination image jointly explained a significant proportion of place branding variance.

Conclusion

This study confirms that the HOLSAT model is an effective framework for evaluating tourist experiences and understanding destination branding processes. Tourist satisfaction was identified as a key mechanism linking destination quality to destination image and brand equity.

Masal County’s strongest competitive advantages include its natural attractions and the hospitality of local residents. However, deficiencies in infrastructure, environmental cleanliness, and cultural programming represent significant challenges that may weaken the destination’s branding potential. The findings suggest that successful place branding requires more than promotional activities. Sustainable destination branding depends on delivering satisfying tourist experiences through continuous improvement in service quality, infrastructure, environmental management, and cultural offerings. From a managerial perspective, tourism authorities should prioritize investments in tourism infrastructure, environmental quality improvement, and the development of authentic cultural events. Furthermore, the periodic application of the HOLSAT model can provide a valuable monitoring tool for identifying emerging satisfaction gaps and supporting evidence-based destination management.

Ultimately, the long-term success of Masal’s tourism brand depends on integrating natural attractions, local culture, service quality, and visitor satisfaction into a coherent and sustainable branding strategy.