Identifying and Prioritizing Strategies to Develop Cultural Heritage Tourism in Iran

Considering the significance of heritage tourism as one of the most important and increasingly welcomed types of tourism worldwide, and Iran's potential in this regard, this study set out to identify and prioritize the strategies that can contribute to the development of heritage tourism in Iran using a mixed-method approach. To this end, thirty practitioners and experts in the relevant field were interviewed to identify the intended strategies. The collected data were then analyzed using thematic analysis. Accordingly, three main strategies (dimensions) and 15 sub-strategies were identified. In the quantitative phase of the study, a questionnaire was designed based on the above-mentioned strategies and sub-strategies, asking eight tourism experts to prioritize them by responding to the items embedded within the questionnaire. The data were then analyzed using the type 2 fuzzy analytical hierarchical process (AHP) method. Accordingly, the study found that marketing, human resources, and infrastructural strategies were the most crucially important ones for developing Iran’s cultural heritage tourism, respectively. As for the sub-strategies, offering public instructions, improving the destination’s image, organizing retraining courses, and continuously developing professional skills for current active tourism staff were found to be the most essential ones, respectively.