Tourism Demand towards Islamic Calligraphy Art (Case Study: Isfahan City)

Resumo

Cultural landscapes are important key components in attracting tourists. In many destinations such as the city of Isfahan, calligraphic art creates a cultural landscape. This study is an initial attempt to investigate promoting tourism in Isfahan by offering a new travel package with an emphasis on calligraphy. Regarding this, four objectives were pursued: 1) to explore strategies which can promote tourism with an emphasis on calligraphy, 2) to evaluate tourists' interest towards learning and gaining experience in calligraphy; 3) to investigate the attitude of tourists towards calligraphy tours; and 4) to measure tourists' awareness of calligraphic art. A qualitative-quantitative method was used in this study. The results demonstrated that educational programmes, events, marketing and product development are strategies, which can boost art tourism in Isfahan. Moreover, the results of the quantitative method illustrated that the tourists have low awareness regarding Islamic calligraphic arts in Isfahan. However, they are interested in learning and gaining experience in calligraphy and they welcome calligraphy tours in Isfahan.