Browsing by Author "Pourtaheri M"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Ecolodge Tourism Dynamics: A Village-Level Analysis of Marketing and Policy Indicators in Iran’s Hawraman Region
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2024-06-14) Pourtaheri M; Torabi Z-A; Khavarian-Garmsir AR; Sajadi S; Hall CM; Álvarez-García J; Ramón-Cardona J; Sánchez-Fernández MD
    Despite growing interest in community-based ecotourism as a pathway to sustainable development, there is a critical lack of research on how localized configurations of marketing and policy factors shape ecolodge performance at the village level. This study addresses this gap by pioneering a comprehensive, contextually grounded analysis of the availability and desirability of key marketing and policy indicators across 25 rural villages in Iran’s culturally and ecologically rich Hawraman region. By employing an innovative mixed-methods approach blending statistical analysis, GIS spatial modeling, surveys, and interviews, the research reveals striking heterogeneity in ecolodge constraints and opportunities, even within a localized setting. Spatial analysis uncovers distance decay effects, with peripheral villages facing exacerbated accessibility deficits compared to centrally located ones. Substantial variations in marketing effectiveness and governance capacities underscore the inadequacy of one-size-fits-all tourism planning. The findings make a novel contribution by demonstrating the imperative for transitioning from monolithic interventions to hyper-localized, place-based strategies tailored to each village’s unique barrier and asset profiles. Embracing this paradigm shift promises to enhance the equity and sustainability of ecolodge tourism in rural contexts globally. The study provides an original methodological blueprint for harnessing multi-modal diagnostics to unpack complex tourism dynamics and catalyze transformative, community-centric solutions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Smart Tourism Technologies, Revisit Intention, and Word-of-Mouth in Emerging and Smart Rural Destinations
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2023-07-12) Torabi Z-A; Pourtaheri M; Hall CM; Sharifi A; Javidi F; Parra-López E; Barrientos-Báez A; Domínguez DC
    This study examines the influence of the various attributes of smart tourism technologies (STTs) on tourists’ intentions to revisit locations and engage in word-of-mouth (WOM) activities regarding emerging and smart rural tourist destinations in Iran. A sample of 590 tourists who visited these destinations following the COVID-19 pandemic participated in the study. The findings reveal that three attributes of STTs, namely, informativeness, accessibility, and interactivity, positively contribute to tourists’ memorable experiences (ME). Furthermore, ME, satisfaction, and the willingness to engage in WOM recommendations are identified as predictors of tourists’ intention to revisit rural destinations. The study also reveals that user competence serves as a mediator between the attributes of STTs (informativeness, accessibility, and interactivity) and the tourists’ ME. Specifically, tourists with greater skills and knowledge of using STTs tend to have more memorable experiences in these emerging and smart rural destinations. The study discusses both the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.