Evaluation of the Phantasm and Branding of Tourism Destinations (case study: South Khorasan Province, Iran)

Abstract

Nowadays, the tourism branding has such importance for governments that annually they spend<br />a lot of financial resources to building the brands although their efforts don't reach to the<br />desirable results. This study aims at evaluating the phantasm and branding of tourist destinations<br />in the South Khorasan Province in Iran. An applied qualitative methodology was used to carry<br />out the data foundation analysis. 100 tourists, who had visited the South Khorasan Province,<br />were interviewed. In the interviews, the identification and assessment of tourist phantasm were<br />determined for each county and accordingly it was suggested to establish the required<br />infrastructure, and services according to tourists' view. The Results showed that phantasms such<br />as “agricultural products, desert hiking, higher education, astronomy and mineral resources" had<br />a high priority in the building of tourist branding in the study area. Therefore, decision-making<br />and planning at macro level should define the Destination brand and at the micro level Province<br />tourism projects should be done in accordance with these brands and priorities.