Authors
Abstract
Introduction
Before we start it is worth noting that the role of mass media in the development of tourism industry is obvious. It is also true that in the age of information and communication, media are considered as one of the most important means of achieving societal goals. Tourism industry is one of the Industries that the media and its proper management can play a crucial role in its development. We have, therefore, set the aim of this study to be a contribution to the tourism literature, especially on how the media can promote more effective tourism. This paper will also try to provide applicable suggestions for authorities so that they can choose a medium which is ranked here to be most effective.
It should also be mentioned that due to various influences that the media can have on audiences, they can cause various reactions from the audience. Therefore, the selection of appropriate media for the purpose of promoting more flourishing tourism is an important factor. And, appropriate media is defined here as those media which are more influential on their audience. Proper use of mass media such as radio, television, newspapers, magazines and the Internet, in addition to paving the way for the development of tourism growth areas, also helps growing the tourism Industry.
Statement of the Research Problem
We believe not much literature exists in Iran that can offer a rank-ordered media usage in tourism industry; consequently there is confusion over what medium is more influential in promoting tourism in Iran. Here, factors that are affecting the choice of media in various fields of tourism are identified both by literature review and experts’ opinions. Then, we use these factors to show how they can be used to rank the media in various fields of tourism such as health tourism, sport tourism and educational tourism. This is all done by fuzzy VIKOR method and we think this rank-ordered media can solve the problem.
Methodology
To meet the objective of this research required us to study it by applying a survey method. In order to do that, those experts who were involved in tourism and knew how to connect tourism to the media were considered as the research’s units of analysis. Those experts who had a five years experience in the field or at least had a bachelor degree in tourism and/or in media studies were chosen for further studies. In order to collect data, designed a questionnaire and distributed among a sample of tourism experts. Since health tourism, sport tourism and education tourism showed to be most important areas for Iranian tourism industry, we studied those media which more active in these three types of tourism.
The first step was taken to choose the factors that affected the use of media in tourism. In order to do that, we studied tourism literature and previous surveys to determine such factors. Then and after weighing these factors, the questionnaire was designed in which questions were inserted based on these factors. Then the VIKOR approach in fuzzy environment was used for ranking three media types and their involvement in health tourism, sport tourism and tourism.
Findings
Here we make an attempt to show how the fuzzy VIKOR method is used to identify the factors that affect the selection of media. Also, we will indicate how the media rankings in various fields of tourism are.
In order to identify the ranking of these factors, the questionnaires were distributed among experts. These people expressed their opinions in the form of fuzzy numbers, and then the normalized matrix was calculated.
In the next step, the values of the positive and negative ideal solution ( and) for each criterion were calculated. To calculate the values of S, R and Q we needed to calculate the weight of each factor that affected the selection of media in the areas of health tourism, sport tourism and educational tourism.
Based on the fuzzy VIKOR method, we had to allocate the ranking of alternatives based on the values of Q and Q value of the item and then the best option was selected (Table. 1).
Table 1, graded factors that affect the selection of media
Medias
radio
Television
Newspaper
Magazines
Internet
Word of mouth
Health Tourism
Q
0/941
0/326
0/859
0/892
0
0/644
Ranking
6
2
4
5
1
3
Sport Tourism
Q
0/618
0/301
0/709
1
0
0/766
Ranking
3
2
4
6
1
5
Educational Tourism
Q
0/929
0/547
0/929
0/955
0
0/267
Ranking
4
3
5
6
1
2
Then we selected the item which had a minimum value of Q in the ranking list. It should be noted that in order to come up with a decisive ranking, the methodology of identifying such rankings require an assessment under certain conditions that has been evaluated and approved.
Keywords
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