Identifying the Cultural Factors Affecting the Choice of Destination with the Approach of Sports Tourism in the Free Areas of the Country

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Na.C., Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.

2 Department of Physical Education, Farhangian University. Tehran. Iran.

3 Physical Education Department, K.N.Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Abstract
The main objective of the present study was to study the topic of attraction and destination selection in order to identify and explain the factors affecting attraction and destination selection with a sports tourism approach appropriate to the context and context of the country's free zones in 1402. To achieve this goal, after reviewing the background and preparing the theoretical framework of the research, the mixed exploratory research method was used to collect data and the required data was collected from experts and specialists in two stages. Considering the size of each community, an appropriate statistical sample (287 people) was selected through stratified sampling and by the attribution method appropriate to the size of the selection and the questionnaires were completed by them. Quantitative results From the elite perspective, the status of tourist satisfaction and destination personality are significantly higher than the average, but the status of the other two components, namely destination image and destination marketing, is significantly lower than the average. Independent results; Between the perspectives of male and female elites and the results of one-way analysis of variance show that there is no significant difference between attractiveness and destination choice among different sports and tourism elites.
Introduction
Today, tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors internationally. In fact, not only is tourism the largest industry in the world, but it is also growing day by day, and many countries consider this dynamic industry to be the main source of income, employment, private sector growth, and infrastructure development (96 Seyed Ameri et al, 2015:). Sport is one of the tourism opportunities, and the role that sport plays in the industry and economic prosperity of countries is undeniable (Szavar and Khodar Rahimi, 2017: 36). Iran has a wide range of sports and tourism attractions, which has made it an ideal destination for many tourists (Zeytunli et al., 2015: 11). Engaging in active or passive sports activities and organizing economic and commercial factors between the countries of origin and destination, along with the trips that occur in between, are collectively known as sports tourism. In the present study, we are looking for what are the factors affecting the attractiveness and choice of destinations with a sports tourism approach in the free zones of the country?
Case study
The case study in this study is to identify and analyze the factors affecting the attractiveness and choice of destinations with a sports tourism approach in the free zones of the country.
Materials and methods
This study is quantitative in terms of method and the data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire and reference to documents. In the quantitative research stage, first, through factor analysis, the main components and the importance coefficient of each of them were identified. Then, using the second-order confirmatory factor analysis method and the structural equation model, the relationships between the components were identified and the final model of attractiveness and destination choice was presented.
Discussion and Results
Based on the results of factor analysis, for the tourist satisfaction component, the service provision index with a factor loading of 0.78 has the highest impact and the behavioral response index with a factor loading of 0.66 has the lowest impact. For the destination personality (brand) component, the advertising index with a factor loading of 0.79 has the highest impact and the personality and branding index with a factor loading of 0.77 has the lowest impact. For the destination image components, the decision-making index with a factor loading of 0.89 has the highest impact and the motivation index with a factor loading of 0.72 has the lowest impact. For the destination marketing component, the investment index with a factor loading of 0.87 has the highest impact and the planning index with a factor loading of 0.34 has the lowest impact. The results of the second-order confirmatory factor analysis showed that the highest factor loading is related to destination evaluation and the lowest is related to destination image.
Conclusion
The findings of this study indicate that the attractiveness and choice of a destination have four main and major components, which are: tourist satisfaction, destination personality (brand), destination image, and destination marketing. From the elites' perspective, the status of tourist satisfaction and destination personality is significantly higher than the average, but the status of the other two components, destination image and destination marketing, is significantly lower than the average.

Keywords

References

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Public Management Researches
Volume 18, Issue 70 - Serial Number 70
December 2025
Pages 281-306

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