Providing a tourism development model with emphasis on the happy city approach Case example: Yazd city

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Department of Geography, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

10.22059/jut.2024.373417.1194

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
The benefits of tourism for host communities, especially in developing countries, have been proven to be an important tool for development because they have a positive impact on employment opportunities, GDP, business development, sustainable growth, etc. When deciding on the choice of a tourist destination, many variables are influential, including the knowledge of the residents of the destination and the experience of other tourists from that destination. For this reason, the aim of the current research is to present a model of tourism development with an emphasis on the happy city approach in Yazd city, and its research method is a survey type in the descriptive-analytical region. In the process of presenting this model and in order to achieve the actual and potential factors in Yazd city, first, the indicators of the happy city and the development of tourism were identified through interviews as a means of collecting qualitative information (thematic analysis), then by developing a questionnaire, the situation of the indicators of happy city (400 citizens) and tourism development (400 tourists) were investigated in the study area. Finally, with the connection between the happy city and tourism development, the tourism development model is presented with an emphasis on the happy city approach.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
In 2015, the tourism industry accounted for 9.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and is arguably the largest industry in the world, which has surpassed powerful industries such as oil, food, and automobiles. The increasing and accelerating growth of this industry has caused many experts to consider the 21st century as the century of tourism. Also, the benefits of tourism for host communities, especially in developing countries, have been proven as an important tool for development because employment opportunities, GDP business development, sustainable growth, ect. have a positive effect. Therefore, the tourism industry, especially urban tourism, has a special place in the economy of countries. However, even though tourism is one of the most important areas of life and the happiness of tourists is one of the main factors of tourism development, these influencing factors have not yet been identified in the destination. Also, very little attention has been paid to the influence of urban spaces (happy cities) in tourism development. Thus, by applying the philosophy of happiness to tourist destinations identifying and strengthening the factors affecting the happiness of tourists, it is hoped that more tourists will be present in these spaces. Therefore, urban planners try to have a lively and happy city by examining the impact of urban spaces on its residents and visitors. For this reason, providing a happy city has become one of the main reasons for urban management systems, especially in developed countries. So, providing lively and attractive environments and spaces along with happy citizens is very important for the sustainability of tourism destinations to meet the primary and secondary expectations of tourists and the resulting financial benefits. The case study in this research is the city of Yazd, located in the middle of the central plateau of Iran and at the crossroads of the country's main roads. Its historical context was registered as one of Iran's national works in 2004. Also, due to its valuable historical architecture and intact traditional texture, it was registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2016. Statistics and comparison information between the golden tourism triangle of Iran (Isfahan, Shiraz, and Yazd) in terms of incoming foreign tourists (Shiraz 281 Isfahan 195, and Yazd 60 in 2013; Shiraz 288, Isfahan 250, and Yazd 66 in 2015; and  Shiraz 392, Isfahan 351, and Yazd 113 in 2016) show that Isfahan and Shiraz with more than 350 thousand incoming foreign tourists in 2015, while having a close competition with each other, have attracted three times as many tourists as Yazd (113 thousand people) (Cultural Heritage Organization, 2016 ). This statistic shows that compared to the other two cities, Yazd still lacks the capacity to attract tourists. One of the reasons may be the level of happiness reported in internal research. For this reason, the current research aims to provide a model for tourism development with an emphasis on the happy city of Yazd city. It seeks to answer the question:
- What type of model is the optimal model for tourism development, emphasizing the happy city for Yazd?
 
Methodology
Its research method is a survey type in the descriptive-analytical area. In the process of presenting this model and in order to achieve the actual and potential factors in Yazd, first, the indicators of the happy city and the development of tourism were identified through interviews as a means of collecting qualitative information (thematic analysis), then by developing a questionnaire, The status of indicators of happy city (400 citizens) and tourism development (400 tourists) were investigated in the study area. Finally, with the connection between the happy city and tourism development, the tourism development model is presented with an emphasis on the happy city approach.
 
Results and discussion
In this part, according to the combination of qualitative (results from in-depth interviews) and quantitative (results from questionnaires), the optimal tourism development model in Yazd with the Happy city approach has been discussed. After the factors affecting tourism development and the happy city were extracted using theoretical literature and in-depth interviews with experts, two questionnaires were prepared for citizens living in Yazd and domestic and foreign tourists. Tourism and happy cities in the study area were determined through descriptive statistics (percentage and average) and inferential t-test of a sample with a theoretical average of 3). In the next stage, the path analysis results show a significant relationship between tourism development and the dimensions of the happy city with the mediating variable of happy residents. Also, the Pearson test results showed a significant relationship between tourism development and a happy city. Therefore, for the tourism development of Yazd city with the happy city approach, in addition to strengthening the actual effective factors (strengths), it is necessary to strengthen the potential effective factors in this city (which have been identified through in-depth interviews based on theoretical literature) based on their importance in the program plans should be considered.
 
Conclusion
Reviewing the background of the research has shown that the happy destination as an influential factor in the development of tourism has only been the work of Chen and Lee (2018), which did not mention any of the dimensions of the happy city, only examining the tourists' image of the Swiss destination with indicators such as value the understanding of the destination, tourism services, satisfaction, and tourist experience have been discussed, which overlap to some extent with the requirements and tourist attractions of the present research. What makes this study different from the current research, in addition to the difference in the population of residents and tourists (a happy destination from the perspective of residents and tourists), is in the research method that tourism development indicators are extracted only based on theoretical literature and the relationship between them is investigated with a quantitative method.
 
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

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urban tourism
Volume 12, Issue 4
December 2025
Pages 1-24

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