Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of Tourism Management, School of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, Department of Management and accounting - University of Allame Tabataba'I (ATU)
3 PhD student, tourism,, Department of Management and accounting - University of Allame Tabataba'I (ATU)
Abstract
The emergence of child-friendly tourism has been a response to children's needs for leisure and in harmony with lifestyle changes. With the development of the city, the increase in population and the ever-increasing changes in the field of leisure and consumption, recreational commercial complexes have entered the cycle of tourism and leisure of citizens. Improper design and neglect of children's needs in these urban spaces cause fatigue, behavioral abnormalities in children and create an unpleasant experience that can negatively affect the experience of companions, other visitors and tourists. In the present research, we intend to analyze the realization of the key components of child-friendly development in commercial and recreational complexes as a part and subsystem of tourism. The subject of our study is the business, entertainment and tourism complex of the Persian Gulf of Yazd.
The current research has been carried out with a mixed approach in two consecutive phases. The first phase of the research is qualitative with an approach based on grounded theory, which used the theme analysis technique of Clark and Brown (2013) to analyze the data obtained from the interviews. Data were collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 31 experts in the field of child tourism, architecture and design of child-friendly spaces, and child psychology, who were selected in a targeted way and as a chain reference. The second phase is a quantitative research which used the method of failure analysis and its effects to analyze the data. The results of the research during the theme analysis process, which included 5 times of continuous review between data sets and coded extractive summaries, led to the identification of 39 categories in the form of 7 main categories "facilities and physical facilities, management and planning, safety and sense of security, educational needs" and self-actualization, social and cultural needs, visual and appearance needs, and recreation, entertainment and social events.
As the results of the FMEA technique show, the category of developing codified regulations for spatial planning and management in the field of children with 370.58 RPN coefficient is priority 1, the categories of paying attention to children's scales in the design of space, designing the space of children's interactions in order to social integration and to arouse a sense of belonging. A space in the child, creating a physically safe environment, received the next priorities. These categories were related to the main categories of management and planning, visual and appearance needs, and security. These categories all refer to improving the capabilities of the commercial-entertainment complex. Since the needs of children do not show much dynamics, it is necessary to consider the development of child tourism with proper planning and investment in the private and public sectors.
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