Investigating community support for sustainable tourism development in small heritage sites in Iran: A grounded theory approach

Figures & data

Figure 1. Sample of small heritage sites in Shiraz. Photographs source: ©Mina Kian (2023).

Figure 2. Challenges faced by small heritage sites. Photographs source: ©Mina Kian (2023).

Table 1. Participant profile.

No.	Education	Occupation	Sector
1	PG	Artist	Private
2	UG	Tour guide	Private
3	PG	Teacher	Public
4	PG	Owner of traditional house	Private
5	UG	Stay-at-home parent	NGO member
6	UG	Activist	Private
7	PG	Shiraz history researcher	Private
8	PG	Civil servant	Public
9	UG	Tour guide	Private
10	PG	Owner of traditional house	Private
11	Secondary school	Retired	NGO member
12	PG	Artist	Private
13	PG	Teacher	Public
14	UG	Local seller	Private
15	Secondary school	Retired	NGO member
16	PG	Civil servant	Public
17	UG	Civil servant	Public
18	PG	Owner of traditional coffee house	Private
19	PG	Civil servant	Public
20	UG	Activist	Private
21	UG	Tour guide	Private
22	Secondary school	Stay-at-home parent	NGO member

Note: NGO: non-governmental organisation; PG: postgraduate degree; UG: undergraduate degree.

Table 2. Concepts and categories.

Concepts	Subcategory	Category
Conditions
To recognise the value of heritage	Cultural/historical awareness	Causal
Feeling of belonging to a place (belonging to heritage sites, belonging to Shiraz, national pride), authenticity, empathy of individuals in society, closeness of ethnicities	Community attachment	Causal
Personality (appreciation of new experiences, responsibility, extroversion, adaptation), values (wisdom, curiosity, pleasure, social recognition, love, appreciating the beauty of nature and art)	Individual characteristics	Causal
Benefits (all groups benefiting from tourism, business benefits, the benefits of historic districts, international recognition), costs (cost of losing the sites)	Community perceptions	Causal
Potential of the historic district to hold events, potential of the historic district for storytelling, utilisation of the surrounding spaces, development of urban service infrastructure, heritage site security	Neighbourhood conditions	Causal
Welfare (economic and social), culture of participation (participation approach, awareness of the possibility of participation, awareness of the outcomes of participation, strengthening the team working spirit), public culture (changing people’s expectations, social cohesion between rich and poor people), trust (in each other, in the government)	Social factors	Causal
Policy-making, comprehensiveness of laws	Rules and policies	Intervention
Education (textbooks), media and municipality (providing a context for continuous viewing of signs), travel culture	Public education	Intervention
Employees (motivation, competence) of relevant government agencies, planning for utilisation of small heritage sites, benchmarking, security of sites, strengthening of heritage protection databases, strengthening specialised libraries, strengthening cross-sectoral cooperation, supporting ideas and influencers, building trust, understanding tourist behaviour	Efficient site management	Intervention
Attitude of clerics, attitude of decision-makers	Attitude	Intervention
Shiraz School of Painting, preserving distinctions and utilising it	Shiraz artistic potential	Contextual
Favourable to immigration	Migration	Contextual
Policy stability, retaining talented people	Stability	Contextual
Strategies
Criticise, pursue, protest	Demand	Action/interaction
Hospitality, openness, protection of sites, choosing collective interests over individual interests	Emotional support	Action/interaction
Intellectual leadership (non-governmental organisation, personal entity), research, education (children, social skills), media activity, intellectual and financial assistance, sponsor (content production, art events, research), storytelling, promoting good deeds, creating awareness (word of mouth, intergenerational transmission)	Voluntary promotional activities	Action/interaction
Utilising creative ideas, using the potential of neighbouring communities, developing new procedures/programmes, producing content (films, photographs, social media, etc.), creating events, specialised training (nurturing local tourism instructors), investing, strengthening the culture of cooperation, protection of human values, marketing approach (specialised tours, varied tourism products), proficiency in international languages	Economic activities	Action/interaction
Participation in specialised local heritage tours, visiting sites, producing content on a personal social media account, buying cultural products related to Shiraz, inviting acquaintances to participate in local tours, renovating houses for self-residency	User activities	Action/interaction
Consequences
Income generation, increasing assets’ value, job creation	Economic	Consequences
National and international credibility (credibility, recognition), vitality of society, national identity (behavioural stability, identity cohesion, preservation of identity), cultural exchanges, cultural impacts	Social	Consequences
Changing the appearance of the city (historical district, general architecture, constant readiness for hospitality), preserving the historical district (global registration/recognition, no demolition, preservation for future generations, cooperation to preserve monuments), loss of originality of some sites	Environmental	Consequences

Figure 3. A grounded theory model of community SSTD in small heritage sites.