درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Spiritual experiences are essential to individual well-being, offering profound emotional, psychological, and religious benefits. Pilgrimage sites, especially sacred spaces, provide a unique environment for pilgrims to experience personal renewal and spiritual transformation. This study investigates the spiritual experiences of young pilgrims at the Razavi Holy Shrine in Mashhad, Iran, a key pilgrimage site for Shia Muslims. Using an exploratory-descriptive qualitative approach and thematic analysis, the research identifies three main themes: Spiritual Well-being, Connectedness, and Consciousness, each with several subthemes. Spiritual Well-being encompasses positive emotions, energy, happiness, purification, and peace and tranquility, emphasizing the emotional uplift and inner peace experienced by pilgrims. Connectedness includes pilgrims’ connection with God, expressing needs and seeking divine favor, receiving blessings and assistance, and fostering ties with religion and holy leaders. This highlights the shrine’s role in deepening spiritual bonds and providing divine support. Consciousness involves experiences of detachment from routine life, timelessness, self-reflection, and religious awareness, illustrating how the pilgrimage fosters introspection and spiritual enlightenment. These findings contribute to the understanding of religious pilgrimage and spiritual transformation, offering valuable insights for scholars, policymakers, and pilgrimage site administrators. Recognizing the dimensions of spiritual experiences can enhance spiritual tourism and guide future research on spiritual psychology and the transformative power of sacred spaces.

Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) shifts the focus of tourism development by centering poverty alleviation within inclusive growth, empowerment, and sustainability, aiming to generate economic opportunities, enhancing skills, and uplifting marginalized communities, particularly in rural and underserved areas. This study evaluates PPT's effectiveness using a mixed-methods approach, combining a literature review with empirical data collected from Ameri neighborhood in Ahwaz city, Iran. Drawing on global PPT frameworks, the research identifies and assesses four key criteria: Economic Benefits, Social/Governance, Social/ Cultural, and Environmental Sustainability. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technical experts prioritized Economic Benefits as the most critical criterion, emphasizing on Income Generation and Employment Opportunities. This aligns with literature highlighting economic empowerment’s role in poverty alleviation. However, local community responses indicated only moderate alignment with expert priorities, suggesting a potential gap between expert models and community needs. In contrast, local residents prioritized Governance Structures and Stakeholder Engagement, indicating the importance of participatory governance. They also rated Sustainable Resource Use and Eco-Friendly Practices highly, although receiving less emphasis from experts. Notable discrepancies emerged in perceptions regarding Community Well-Being, Social Equity, and Cultural Preservation, with significant variation among local responses, indicating uncertainty or dissatisfaction in these aspects. The findings supports a multidimensional PPT approach that balances economic gains with inclusive governance, cultural values, and environmental stewardship. By aligning expert insights with local realities, this study provides practical guidance for achieving equitable and sustainable tourism development, especially in ecologically and culturally sensitive regions like Ameri.

The global demographic shift toward an aging population has driven the growth of senior tourism as a vital and expanding part of the tourism industry. This systematic review synthesizes empirical and theoretical studies published from 1980 to 2025, examining the main motivations, travel preferences, and challenges faced by senior tourists. Using the PRISMA protocol, 31 peer-reviewed studies were systematically identified and analyzed through thematic content analysis in NVivo software. The findings show that senior tourists are mainly motivated by intrinsic factors, such as relaxation, nostalgia, social engagement, and personal growth. At the same time, extrinsic motivators—like destination features and leisure activities—also play a role but are less explored. Preferences among senior travelers are quite diverse, influenced by age, health, socioeconomic status, and cultural background, and reflected in different choices regarding accommodation, travel timing, activities, and services needed. Key barriers to senior travel include physical and health limitations, financial constraints, psychological fears, and infrastructural issues, all of which affect participation and satisfaction. The literature indicates a regional focus on studies from Asia and Europe, with notable gaps in the Middle East and other underrepresented areas. Quantitative methods dominate, highlighting the need for more qualitative and mixed-method research to better understand the lived experiences and changing needs of senior tourists. This review provides an integrated thematic perspective that enhances understanding of senior tourism behavior and lays a foundation for creating more accessible and inclusive travel options that address the complex needs of aging populations.

Postmodern tourism is gradually shifting away from mass tourism toward more personalized, experience-based, and interest-driven forms of travel. In response to this trend, many destinations are increasingly emphasizing local cuisine and developing culinary tourism as one of the most dynamic and creative sectors of the tourism industry. However, the successful development of culinary tourism is not possible without a clear understanding of culinary tourists’ behavior. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to explain the behavior of product-oriented culinary tourists, the most specialized segment of culinary tourism, by developing a behavioral model using a mixed-method approach. In the qualitative phase, a meta-synthesis method was applied, while the quantitative phase employed structural equation modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS 4 to identify key dimensions, components, and indicators, as well as to examine the relationships among them. The sample size was determined using the Cochran formula and consisted of 285 participants, who were randomly selected from saffron culinary tourists visiting the Qaenat region. The findings indicate that tourists’ motivation, destination image, and perceived service quality have direct effects on satisfaction and indirect effects on behavioral intentions. Notably, perceived service quality also shows a direct and significant influence on behavioral intentions. Furthermore, the results highlight several key destination characteristics that strongly influence the quality of culinary tourism tours. These include cultural and culinary involvement, accommodation quality, farm-based experiences, food and beverage quality, reliable service delivery, a sense of safety and tranquillity, effective tour organization, and the quality of tour guide services .

Given the remarkable growth of animal tourism worldwide and the increasing concerns about animal welfare, this study was conducted to examine the role of Islamic teachings and ethical beliefs in shaping tourists’ awareness, attitudes, and behaviors toward ethical animal tourism in Iran. The study population comprised all individuals who had experienced animal tourism in the past five years. From this population, 145 participants were selected using non-probability convenience sampling, and a questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS software, and structural equation modeling was employed to test the study’s conceptual model. The findings showed that Islamic teachings and ethical beliefs have a significant positive effect on awareness of ethical issues and on attitudes toward ethical animal tourism. Moreover, awareness and positive attitudes significantly influenced co-creation behaviors, participation, and behavioral intentions in the context of animal tourism. The results underscore the importance of religious and ethical values in promoting responsible tourist behavior. Strengthening education, raising public awareness, and developing ethical frameworks aligned with Islamic culture can play an effective role in improving animal welfare and supporting sustainable tourism development.

Cultural marketing is considered one of the most effective strategies for introducing and strengthening local identities in the context of globalization. Among various cultural elements, food holds a distinctive position as both a part of tangible culture and an element of intangible heritage. It can convey the values, narratives, and lifestyles of a region in an accessible and experiential way. This study examines the role of traditional culinary practices and local dish names in the cultural marketing of Guilan Province, Northern Iran. A mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative) was used. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 participants, including local chefs, cultural heritage experts, and organizers of culinary tourism tours. Thematic Content Analysis was applied to interpret the interviews. In the quantitative phase, a researcher-designed questionnaire was administered to 306 incoming tourists who had experienced local food in the province. Their responses were analyzed statistically. The findings indicate that Guilan's traditional foods reflect the region’s climate, history, language, rituals, and indigenous beliefs. Through the diversity of ingredients, unique cooking methods, and culturally rooted names, these foods have strong cultural appeal. Statistical analysis also revealed significant and positive relationships between tourists’ demographic, psychological, and motivational characteristics and their willingness to consume local foods and engage in culinary tourism Additionally, factors such as the diversity of dish names and preparation styles, the hospitality culture, health-related aspects of local food, and promotional activities were found to significantly influence demand and enhance the culinary tourism experience. Overall, the study emphasizes that the deliberate integration of food culture into tourism policies—especially by leveraging its symbolic and narrative dimensions—can strengthen destination branding and contribute to the sustainable economic and cultural development of local communities.

This study aimed to provide a mathematical model for tour guides' simultaneous allocation and scheduling. Human resource downsizing was one of the main objectives of the problem studied. At the same time, another objective was to match the capabilities of tour guides with their locations. Each of them visits many different tourist sites according to their interests and expertise. The tours and allocations of tour guides and tourists to these tours were scheduled in an integrated manner using a linear programming approach. By reviewing the available documents and data, conducting field observations, and holding interviews with key stakeholders, a clear gap in the field of Assignment and Scheduling was identified. Then various constraints and goals were thoroughly analyzed and modeled as a multi-objective problem to ensure practicality. Finally, a detailed case study was also conducted, which indicated that the derived allocation rule led to significant improvements according to various goals compared to the current allocation system.

This research explores the challenges and opportunities facing Iran’s hospitality industry from a cultural and historical perspective, with a particular focus on creative tourism. Given the nature of the subject, the study employs a descriptive research method. In terms of data collection, a qualitative approach was adopted. The statistical population comprises managers and deputies within the hospitality industry in Isfahan province. To determine the appropriate number of participants, the saturation rule was applied, ultimately resulting in a sample of 20 individuals selected through purposive sampling. Data collection was conducted using field methods and a semi-structured interview process. The collected data were then analyzed using MaxQDA software. The findings highlight several key strategies for enhancing creative tourism in Isfahan’s hospitality sector. These include developing local experiences, improving the quality of creative services, diversifying tour offerings, establishing local collaboration networks, leveraging technological marketing, and supporting local businesses.