Drivers of creative tourism development with an emphasis on the role of urban branding in Kermanshah province

Abstract

The current research was conducted to identify the drivers of creative tourism development with an emphasis on the role of urban branding in Kermanshah province.The dominant approach of the research was mixed(qualitative-quantitative)in which theme analysis and survey methods were used in the qualitative and quantitative parts,respectively.The population studied in the qualitative section comprised of managers and experts of cultural heritage and tourism,municipalities and urban affairs,marketing/tourism activists,university faculty members,and entrepreneurs in Kermanshah province.The purposeful sampling and snowball methods were used by which 22 interviews were conducted with the participants,and theoretical saturation was achieved.In the quantitative part of the research,the statistical population included all the managers active in the field of tourism businesses of Kermanshah province.There were 284 people,of which163 were selected as the samples by using the table of Morgan.Three procedures of open coding,secondary coding, and categories were used in inductive content analysis leading to the identification of153primary codes,17conceptual codes,and5factors.

Keywords

• creative tourism
• drivers
• branding
• cultural and historical heritage