Barriers and challenges to realizing integrated management of tourism in Mashhad metropolis

Destination management is a subject of growing importance as destinations compete to provide the highest quality of experience for visitors; and to manage the impacts of tourism on host communities and environments. To compete effectively, destinations have to deliver wonderful experiences and excellent value to visitors. The business of tourism is complex and fragmented and from the time that visitors arrive in the destination, until they leave, the quality of their experience is affected by many services and experiences, including a range of public and private services, community interactions, environment and hospitality. In a tourist destination there are usually various stakeholders with different goals that don't cooperate with one another and view the development from a completely different perspective. In this regard, the role of tourist destination management and cooperation between tourism organizations becomes important more than ever. Therefore, this study attempts to deal with the challenges of integrated management of tourism in Mashhad and scrutinize this issue from the perspective of organizational cooperation as this city blessed with a rich heritage and old world charm, and holds the promise of a unique travel experience. The target population are the top managers and experts of four major organizations include Astan Quds Razavi, cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Khorasan Razavi, Mashhad Municipality and the government office of khorasan razavi and sample size were 15 people. This study applies qualitative case study methodology approach. Data are collected using semi-structured interview. The results showed that the main factors affecting the non-collaboration between related-tourism organizations in Mashhad city include: lack of a systematic approach, weak legal structure, poor planning, lack of integrated tourism management, and the weakness of the policy-making system. These factors have created challenges such as the lack of transparency in legal obligations; individual-based decision-making, resource shortages, lake of skilled professionals, informal and cross-sectional cooperation, weakness in division of labors, weakness in distribution and efficient allocation of resources and the lack of the managers' ability. These challenges lead to dissatisfaction of tourists, decrease of destination loyalty , lack of trust between organizations and lack of participation in tourism destination development.