The purpose of this article is study of cultural tourism challenges in the country and presentation of related strategies. The main questions are: what are the most important cultural tourism challenges? What are the managing strategies? At first, motivation factors in tourism are studied and effective criteria in choice of destination are classified. Then, cultural and tourist impressionability, cultural tourism types and cultural views of tourism are being reviewed and cultural-social impacts of tourism, consequences of cultural tourism and development ways of cultural tourism are being studied. The related strategies are presented at the end. The research method is descriptive analytical. The research results show that cultural tourism is impossible without attention to economic and social impacts and governments role in a scientific and practical planning.

The importance of sustainability development for developing countries and their tourism is a major issue. This study presents a new approach and framework for spatial modelling of tourism products potentials (TPP) in their sustainability evaluation. The approach was developed based on the GIS multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and its performance was evaluated for spatial TPP mapping in Tabriz city, Iran. To achieve this purpose, we recognized the main Components of Tourism Development indicators (CTDI) such as attractions, accommodation, services and infrastructures facilities to improving sustainable tourism, and determined their significance using the Geographic information systems (GIS). Furthermore, the uncertainty analyze was applied to diminish the inherent error in criteria weights. A GIS-based aggregation function was applied to discern the TPP map. Finally, the emphasis in this paper investigates the practical usage of GIS for the benefit of sustainable tourism development. In particular, it inquired the possible opportunities and challenges facing the adoption of GIS to assist sustainable tourism development. The purpose of this article is to map and explore existing and potential attractions, tourism services and facilities in Tabriz and to ensure that potential opportunities are available for all tourists to enjoy enjoyable experiences in order to reveal their diverse economic, social, political and cultural benefits. Build on the positive and negative aspects of their construction and present them with appropriate solutions for tourism development that lead to sustainable tourism development and infrastructure improvement.

Objectives: The present paper attempts at examining the relationships which exist between the article’s main concepts namely folklore, cultural capital and tourism. However, cultural capital originally was coined by French sociologist Pierre Bordure to include non economic factors; education in particular that may be responsible for poverty and other negative characteristics of the poor, the concept later on was expanded to cover attitudes, characters, and customs. As a result folklore of a society may also be regarded as a form of cultural capital.The article then deals with the importance of tourism especially due to globalization experienced by all cultures around the world. Today tourism is regarded as the most important source of national income. Both income and occupation multipliers embedded in tourism will serve as positive factors facilitating development. Finally the article Reviews however briefly the Iran’s case as a society that is very rich in various forms of tourism’s attractions which makes her desirable as a tourism destinati.Method: The article is based on literature reviw. As result it may be regarded as an analytical and descriptive research, aiming to enhance the existing familiarity with tourism and a number of other important concepts. Results: In Iran, tourism industry is a neglected domain. Thus the most important objective of tourism industry is to emphasize the importance of such a domain as far as development is concerned. The other important objective is to enhance the general public’s knowledge concerning the role of tourism as far as income and job creation are involved.Despite the fact that the article is based on a review of literature a number of findings may be mentioned. First, tourism industry at the time of economic globalization and the coming of automated industries that create very limited number ofjobs, may act as the most reliable source ofjob creation. Second, tourism when carefully and consciously planned is a nature friendly  approach he purpose of this study was to establish if there was an association between social factors in macro level and illicit drug use in Mazandaran province. Five of the hypotheses proved statistically significant, they include: effect of smuggler’s activity rate on drug addiction rate, effect of availability of drugs on drug addiction rate, effects of urbanity and availability of drugs on social disorganization, and the effect of smuggler’s activity rate on availability of drugs. The two hypotheses that were not statistically significant are the effect of the urbanity and social disorganization on drug addiction rate. Path analysis results indicate that availability of drugs, smuggler’s activity, urbanism and social disorganization variables are the most important variables for explanation of drug related crimes in Mazandaran Province, respectively. Several implications can be derived from this study; one of such public implications is the modification of preventive programs designed to reduce illicit drug use.

Cultural knowledge education, which includes an understanding of both tangible and intangible cultural elements, behavioral patterns, and social processes within a specific community or group, is considered essential for promoting sustainable tourism development. Tourism higher education plays a crucial role in harnessing this knowledge. However, the integration of cultural knowledge within tourism curricula has not been extensively explored in academic research. This paper, focusing on tourism higher education in Iran, seeks to examine how different components of cultural knowledge are integrated into the curricula of undergraduate, graduate, and PhD programs. Using a qualitative design, the study analyzes the curricula of these programs through documentary research. Initially, courses relevant to cultural knowledge were identified through keyword searches, followed by a qualitative content analysis of course content to pinpoint the cultural knowledge components. The results indicate that cultural knowledge is more prominently incorporated at the undergraduate level than in the postgraduate programs. Furthermore, the distribution of cultural knowledge across graduate and PhD programs is unbalanced, especially when compared to the undergraduate curriculum. Given that these postgraduate programs aim to prepare future mid-to-senior-level managers and researchers in tourism, this imbalance highlights a significant gap. Therefore, revising the curricula to better integrate diverse cultural knowledge components is a critical priority for advancing sustainable tourism development in the country.

Traditional perspectives of regional development have emphasized on economic factors and innovation in exploiting techniques and resources. Similarly, regional tourism development is usually couched in economic factors, such as jobs and increasing land values. In this approach usually was ignored the local and community aspects of tourism development; thus it is necessary that the community be factored into planning and development strategies to balance the traditional economic perspective. Tourism systems include interaction between visitors and elements of the host community. It is argued in this paper that fostering innovation in regional development is much more than a process of community consultation. This paper outlines the key concepts of social capital and cultural capital and how they can further our understanding of regional tourism development. Tourism development depends on a level of social, political and cultural capital in order to be a tool of successful regional development. It does so within the context of regional tourism development and the concepts of systems of innovation and sustainable development.

This research aims to identify the factors that influence the growth of cultural tourism in Iran and propose a corresponding model. Following the identification of these factors, a scenario is written to optimize their utilization. The research employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to achieve its objectives and finalize the factors. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with experts in the field. In the second phase, after the formal validity of the factors is confirmed, their fuzzy cognitive mapping and scenario are designed using the FCMapper and Pajek software programs. As the results show, the factor of “creating investment opportunities and attracting financial resources in the field of cultural tourism” is the most influential, while the factor of “providing diverse and creative services in Iran’s cultural tourism” is the most impressionable for the development of cultural tourism in Iran. In the task of scenario writing, it has been discovered that, by focusing on attracting financial resources, managers can enhance the infrastructure, create a context for interaction with other countries, identify new target markets, and offer creative services to Iranian cultural tourists through diverse tours. The findings can help stakeholders, managers, and policymakers in Iran’s tourism industry design and develop plans and strategies for the growth of Iran’s cultural tourism

Religious and ritual tourism in Iran, as part of broader cultural tourism, exhibits remarkable potential for economic, cultural, and social development. This study focuses on the country’s wide range of religious and national ceremonies and explores how they can reinforce cultural tourism. Findings indicate that key religious rituals such as Ashura, Tasuʿa, and Islamic festivals, alongside ancient festivities like Nowruz, Mehregān, and Yaldā, not only strengthen collective identity but also possess high capacity for attracting both domestic and international travelers. Developing this sector can create multiple opportunities for boosting local markets, generating employment, and increasing revenues in various regions nationwide. Conducted through a qualitative, interdisciplinary approach, this research reviews literature on heritage and ritual tourism and analyzes the interaction between cultural beliefs, religious customs, and the spiritual-educational experiences of visitors. The most significant challenges identified include inadequate infrastructure, limited statistical data, and occasionally the commodification of ceremonies that undermines their authenticity. Consequently, precise policymaking, local community education, targeted marketing, and preserving ceremonial integrity are deemed crucial. The findings demonstrate that religious and ritual tourism, by uniting historical, cultural, and spiritual dimensions, can play a vital role in presenting Iran’s heritage to the world and serve as an effective tool for sustainable tourism development. Ultimately, broader interdisciplinary research, coupled with support for tourism infrastructure and constructive collaboration among government bodies, local communities, and private stakeholders, remains essential for ensuring success in this field.

The city of Isfahan due to its special geographical location and historical antiquity from the distant past has a variety of historical attractions,cultural,Is artistic and social,And continuously as one of the major tourism hubs of Iran,It has been a good host for domestic and foreign tourists,But due to poor management and planning,Unfortunately, he has not been able to do what he deserves so far,Be successful in terms of attracting tourists and earning foreign exchange. The purpose of this study is to analyze the capabilities of cultural tourism in Isfahan and the priority of planning on cultural indicators to attract tourists and cultural tourism,Earning foreign currency and developing the tourism industry. This type of research,It is of practical type but based on the nature of descriptive research,It is documentary and analytical. The statistical population consisted of two groups of experts and tourists,Experts are all counted because of the small number, but the number of sample tourists,384 people have been determined by Cochran's formula,Who participated in completing the questionnaire. In order to analyze the data, SPSS and ArcGIS software as well as structural analysis have been used. The results of this study show that cultural indicators, respectively,Henry,Social and biological are more important in attracting cultural tourists and the priority of urban tourism development planning should be based on them.