An Evaluation of Niche Tourism Potentials in Ghaleh-Rudkhan Tourism Target Village Using Activity-Based Segmentation

Document Type : Scientific Articles

Author

• Hamideh Beigi

University of Guilan

10.22067/jrrp.v9i2.81067

Abstract

Purpose - Niche tourism refers to how to use a particular tourism product tailored to the needs of a particular segment of the market. Places with niche tourism products are able to achieve a high position and consolidate their future position in the tourism market. This type of tourism helps distinguish tourism products by creating an image of the destination and helping compete in the increasingly crowded environment of the tourism market. This paper investigates and analyzes the niche tourism attractions in Ghaleh Rudkhan tourist destination village using activity-based segmentation, the attitudes of the host community in dealing with niche tourism development, and the ability to implement tourism projects and socio-economic factors influencing tourism development in the region, which eventually offers solutions to overcome the current and potential challenges in the study area. To collect the data, interview-based methods, focus group interviews, individual observations and analysis of the documents obtained from different sources were used.
Design/methodology/approach - A questionnaire was designed and distributed among 383 tourists and 190 rural employees. The data of this study were mainly evaluated using thematic and content analysis methods. Besides, we have also introduced the niche tourism potentials and tourism activities in the region.
Finding - The results show that thanks to the economic and social opportunities, local communities support tourism development in Ghaleh Rudkhan; however, the challenges associated with tourism marketing, event management, uncertainty of private sector investors and environmental issues must be addressed through a participatory approach.

Keywords

• Special interest tourism
• Niche tourism
• Activity-based segmentation
• Participation
• Ghaleh Rudkhan tourist destination village

---

References

1. Abbasi, H. (1385/2006). History of Ghaleh Rudkhan. Guilan Culture, 25 & 26. 68-76. [In Persian].

2. Abedi, T., & Yousefi, B. (1394/2015). An estimation of conservation value of Ghaleh Rudkhan River in Fouman County (Guilan Province). First International Conference on Geographical Sciences. Kharazmi Institute of Higher Science and Technology, Shiraz, Iran. [In Persian].

3. Adah, G. (2014). Assessing the niche tourism products of Lokoja township. International Journal of Public Administration and Management Research (IJPAMR), 2(3), 98-103.

4. Ali-Knight. J. (2010). In the role of niche tourism products destination development (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), Edinburgh Napier University, England.

5. Bigdelo, M. (2006). Niche marketing as the first step in business success. Tadbir, 175, 59-63. [In Persian].

6. Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran. (1378/1999). The comprehensive plan to increase inbound tours and improve technical capacity of the Iranian tour leaders (Report 1). [In Persian].

7. Dalgic, T., & Leeuw, M. (1994). Niche marketing revisited: Concept, applications and some european cases. European Journal of Marketing, 28(4), 39-55.

8. Derret, R. (2001). Special interest tourism: Starting with the individual. In N. Douglas, & Derett, R. (Eds.). Special interest tourism. Australia: Wiley.

9. Douglas, N., Douglas, N., & Derrett, R. (2001). Special interest tourism. Sydney: John Wiley & Sons.

10. Esmaeilzadeh, H., Sarafi, M., & Tavakoli Nia, J. (1390/2011). An analysis of tourism development approaches in local communities. Environmental Science, 2(9), 119-142. [In Persian].

11. Ghadami, M., Aligholizadeh Firouzjaie, N., Berdi, R., & Moradnejad, A. (1385/2006). The role of tourism in land use changes in tourism destinations (A case study of Central District of Noshahr County). Regional Urban Studies and Research, 1(3), 21-42. [In Persian].

12. Ghaedi, M., & Golshani, A. (1395/2016). Content analysis methods, from quantitative to qualitative. Psychological Methods and Models, 23(7), 57-82. [In Persian].

13. Ghareh Nejad, H. (1388/2009). Tourism industry and its economic analysis. Isfahan: Islamic Azad University of Najaf Abad Branch. [In Persian].

14. Ghauri P., & Gronhaug K. (2010). Research methods in business studies (4th ed.). England: Prentice Hall/ Financial Times.

15. Golzadeh, Z. (1394/2015). An evaluation of local community attitudes toward mass tourism and alternative case study of Babolsar County (Unpublished M.A. thesis). Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran. [In Persian].

16. Guilan Province Management and Planning Organization. (1395/2016). Statistical yearbook of Guilan Province. Deputy of Statistics and Information. [In Persian].

17. Hall, C. M., & Weiler, B. (1992). Special-interest tourism. Canada: John Wiley & Sons.

18. Hose, T. A. (2008). Geotourism. Appreciating the deep time of landscapes. In M. Novelli, (Ed.). Contemporary issues, trends and cases (pp 27-37). London: Elsevier.

19. Husseini, M. (1394/2015). Introducing the focal group method and its application in research. Tehran: Publications and information center for research and thought assessment. [In Persian].

20. Karimi, S., & Nasr, A. (1392/2013). Interview data analysis methods. Research, 1(7), 71-94. [In Persian].

21. Keegan W., Moriaty, S., & Duncan, T. (1992). Marketing prentice hull. N. J.: Englewood-Cliffs.

22. Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2017). Marketing principles. (B. Forouzandeh, Trans.). Isfahan: Amokhteh.

23. Lamzden, L. (2011). Tourism marketing (A. Tajzadeh Namin, Trans.). Tehran: Payam Noor University Press.

24. Leksakundilok, A. (2004). Community participation in ecotourism development in Thailand. Sydney: Sydney University Press.

25. Lew, A. A. (2008). Long tail tourism: New geographies for marketing niche tourism products. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 25(3-4), 409-419.

26. Macleod, D. V. L. (2003). Niche tourism in question interdisciplinary perspectives or problems and possibilities. Glasgow: University of Glasgow.

27. Mirakzadeh, A., & Bahrami, M. (1390/2011). Niche marketing strategy: The key to sustainable entrepreneurial marketing in agriculture. Journal of Agricultural and Natural Resources Engineering, 9(33), 28-36. [In Persian].

28. Mirzaee, H. (1392/2013). The impact of empowering local communities on rural tourism development (A case study of Ghaleh RudKhan village) (Unpublished M.A. thesis). Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran. [In Persian].

29. Misiko, A. S. (2013). Assessing niche tourism potentials at kit mikayi sacred site using activity-based segmentation: Towards sustainable tourism product diversification. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(22), 8-18.

30. Nick Raftar, T., Katibian, H., & Misaghi, N. (2019). Personal and historical nostalgia and planning to attract tourists to Tehran. Journal of Geography and Planning, 23(67), 309-326. [In Persian].

31. Novellis, M. (2005). Niche tourism: Contemporary issues, trends and cases. Oxford: Oxford Butterworth-Heinemann.

32. Papoli Yazdi, M., & Saghaee, M. (1393/2014). Tourism (nature and concepts). Tehran: SAMT. [In Persian].

33. Prabakaran N., & Pachamathan N. (2013). Niche tourism products of India. Abasyn Journal Social Sciences, 6(1), 53-64.

34. Qahreman Izadi, N., & Ayatollahi, M. (1392/2013). The capacities of natural tourism complexes in attracting tourists (A case study of Ghaleh Rudkhan, Fouman County). National Conference on Architecture, Culture, and Urban Management, Karaj Municipality Scientific-Practical Training Center and Did Architectural Office, Karaj, Iran. [In Persian].

35. Read, S. (1980). A prime force in the expansion of tourism in the next decade: special interest travel. A prime force in the expansion of tourism in the next decade: special interest travel, 193-202.

36. Robinson, M., & Novelli M. (2008). Niche tourism. An introduction. In M. Novelli (Ed.) Contemporary issues, trends and cases (pp 1-11). London: Elsevier.

37. Swarbrooke, J., & Horner, S. (1999). Consumer behavior in tourism. Great Britain: Butterworth-Heinemann.

38. Torabi Farsani, N., & Shafee, Z. (1397/2018). An introduction to different forms of niche tourism. Isfahan: Isfahan University of Arts Publications. [In Persian].