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Saberifar R. Prioritizing the Needs and Expectations of Urban Tourists (Case Study, Mashhad City). MJSP 2018; 22 (2) :75-93
URL: http://hsmsp.modares.ac.ir/article-21-13749-en.html

Introduction: The city of Mashhad, as one of the major tourist destinations of religious pilgrims in Iran and in the world, has experienced very worrying conditions in recent years, and not only the pilgrims entering into this city have turned into poor groups with low financial abilities, but the stay of all pilgrims, especially those who are highly financially well-off has also fallen dramatically. Although several activities have been undertaken by relevant organizations in this regard, the results have not been consistent with expectations. For this reason, it was necessary to determine what these activities were, how much they were coordinated with the existing requirements, and why the goals had not been fulfilled in the first place. In order to answer these questions and in view of the efficiency of the technique of expanding the qualitative function in extracting the needs and requirements of the product and providing customer satisfaction, the researcher in this study has tried to extract the requirements and demands of tourists entering Mashhad using this tool, after which the aim was to prioritize them and evaluate the activities carried out in the city. Accordingly, the present study is performed in order to identify and evaluate the needs and expectations of tourists in Mashhad City.
Methodology: The research method is descriptive and statistical population included all tourists who have traveled to this city at least twice in the last 10 years. According to the inclusion criteria for entering the selected sample, the list of tourists entering the city of Mashhad during the study period is extracted from the police forces and the people who have at least two trips to Mashhad are identified after which their names are arranged based on the ravel time . After listing, the people with the highest number of trips to Mashhad are selected as the first members and the rest are randomly selected afterwards. The statistical sample size is estimated to be 200 participants based on Cochran formula, but it increased to more than 350 participants for more certainty, and finally 342 people entered the final analysis. Thirty specialists are involved in determining the infrastructure and facilities needed for tourism purposes. The data are collected using a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability are confirmed. Data are analyzed using the quality function deployment technique and one-sample T-test. Analytical hierarchy analysis (AHP) is used in determining the importance of needs and requirements.
Conclusion and discussion: The results show that the quality of residential centers, security, low cost and cheapness, tolls and incomes, public acceptance, introduction and promotion, cultural facilities, handicrafts, support facilities, and scope and variety of activities are respectively in the first to tenth priority of needs and the expectations of customers based on specific features. Moreover, based on the results of single-sample T-test, and in response to the first question of the study, the most important demands and needs of customers from the product can be considered as follows: reasonable and low prices of services and facilities, quality of residential centers, introduction and promotion, public acceptance, supportive facilities, tolls and incomes, security, scope and variety of activities, handicrafts, and cultural facilities. In the next step, in order to answer the second question of the study, paired comparisons are used to determine the importance of customers' needs and demands. For this purpose, after distributing the paired comparison questionnaire, the data are collected and analyzed. Accordingly, the Inconsistency Ratio (IR) is calculated for the pairwise matrix equal to less than 0.1. Therefore, considering the compatibility method of the pair comparison matrix in the AHP method, it can be said that the Inconsistency Ratio of the paired comparisons has been achieved at an acceptable level. This indicates the accuracy of the results of the initial weights obtained by the AHP method for customer requirements. In order to build a quality house, after identifying the needs of customers and in order to answer the third question, it is necessary to determine the technical characteristics proportional to each requirement. To this end, after identifying customers' needs, a team of experts is formed and their views on each requirement and its relevance to the needs and requirements of customers were obtained. Finally, by summarizing comments and several meetings, 15 related technical characteristics are presented. After determining the technical characteristics of each of the requirements, in the next stage, the position of the provided product is determined in comparison with competitors' products (Isfahan and Shiraz). After the calculations and evaluation of competitors, in order to develop and improve the needs and requirements of customers, it is decided to use the results of this section in the next steps of the work. According to these calculations, prioritizing customers' needs is placed from the first to the tenth by relative priority index (for the quality of residential centers and the range and variety of activities respectively). In order to calculate the improvement ratio which is determined by the division of the column with the title of the program into the current status column, the program's target value is first determined to meet the customer's requirements, and in order to determine the program targeting values and the answer to the fourth question, the expert group is asked to set the target values to meet customers’ requirements. Based on the views of the above group, from the needs and technical requirements related to each of needs, public participation and promotion of tourism culture are ranked in the first priority while timing of travel and distribution of passengers throughout the year were ranked in the last priority.
Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, the quality and diversity of residential centers, the existence of primary security, and the balanced price of the basic needs of tourists are in the first to third priority, and to meet these demands and expectations, attention to public participation and promotion of tourism culture in the city, the use of modern and efficient technology in providing necessary services and facilities, as well as control and supervision in the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of services, are the most important factors.