THE BENEFIT OF GEO-BRANDING IN A RURAL GEOTOURISM DESTINATION: ISFAHAN, IRAN

Abstract

Rural centres are among the most important of those which have affected world tourism trends. The increase in short-term trips has made these territories one of the main tourism destinations. In today's competitive world, a targeted effort is necessary to brand all products and services to compete for tourist attraction. It is noteworthy that, until this time (2016) 120 villages have been considered as rural destinations for the target of tourism markets in Iran, and therefore, it can be said that the existence of a particular brand is an encouraging and effective factor to attract tourists to rural areas. The Delphi technique is used to determine the benefits of making and managing a tourism brand for desert villages which are geotourism destinations in Isfahan, Iran. Analysis of the data summarized thirteen benefits of geo-branding for rural areas.

Keywords

• desert village
• geotourism
• Iran
• tourism brand