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Paper : Thematic Tourism ; A new Concept for Developing Tourism ( Case Study : Rural Areas of Meyami County )

Purpose: the purpose of the present research is to determine and identify various forms of thematic tourism and implementation strategies in rural areas of Meyami County for proper planning respecting the current market structure and the region’s tourism potentials. Methods: the present research applied a case study method using various instruments including observation, interview, as well as document references. Interviews were conducted with 30 local stakeholders and experts up to the saturation. Results: the research led to a set of developing subthemes embodied in the main themes of cultural-historical, pilgrimage, rural life, agriculture and food, industry, health, physical activity, landscape and natural systems, and geology. Respecting each determined theme, a developable tourism form and a set of follow-up operational strategies were provided. Conclusion: considering the region Caravanserais’ capacities, enhancing tourism infrastructure, designing, developing and marketing of particular forms of tourism for the understudied city, focusing on supplementary plans along with thematic tourism forms, cooperating with influencers such as bloggers, journalists, and even famous tour leaders are critical factors in developing thematic tourism in the rural areas of Meyami County.


Introduction
ourism is known as one of the largest economic industries around the world. It accounts for 10% of the global gross domestic product (GDP). Interestingly, out of every 10 jobs in the world, one is associated with tourism (World Tourism Organization, 2018). In 2018, the number of international travelers was 1.4 billion people; a business with 1.7 trillion dollars revenue. The significance of this industry is that it alone accounts for 7% of the global total exports, and 29% of the service T CrossMark exports (World Tourism Organization, 2019). The desire to attain the aforementioned advantages leads many countries to seek larger benefits from this industry and to ensure their development through tourism expansion.
Our country (Iran) is no exception. In travelogues and historical texts, the four-season land, Iran, has always been known for its rich culture and wilderness. It has paved the way for tourism development through accessing huge natural, cultural, and historical resources. It is stated that the oil and petrochemical industries can be well substituted by tourism. In addition, as the world organizations report, tourism can play a major role as a strong economic arm and can resolve domestic difficulties such as lack of income and employment (World Tourism Organization, 2018). Moreover, it is worth notifying that tourism, as a means of promoting world peace, can be a proper tool to fix the negative image created by Western media; in other words, it introduces rich Iranian culture to the world. Therefore, numerous political documents have highlighted the necessity of tourism development in Iran. According to the Islamic Republic of Iran's 20-Year Vision Plan, by 2025, Iran will reach 20 million visitors and an income of about 25 billion dollars through tourism (The Expediency Discernment Council, 2005). Recently, the "Sixth Economic, Social, and Cultural Development Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran" particularly highlighted the "sustained development of Iran tourism, whereby the number of foreign visitors and travelers increases at least five times by the end of the sixth plan" (The Supreme Leader, 2015). However, despite all potentials and multiple sources, as well as high-level documents emphasis on tourism development in Iran, our present rank is undeniably far from the desired image. Respecting tourism competitiveness ranking, Iran ranked 89 among 140 countries selected by the World Economic Forum (World Economic Forum, 2019); hence, achieving prospective objectives for tourism development, and removing barriers weakening the current economic position would require proper planning at various national, provincial and urban levels, as well as in rural areas as the least micro-levels. Of these, rural areas of Meyami County need a proper, well-established tourism planning. Rural areas of Meyami County are endowed with huge potentials of different dimensions that realize various forms of tourism. Different vegetation, wildlife, multiple geomorphological phenomena, an ancient culture, an intellectual heritage, great historical figures, and historical monuments all represent different tourism potentials of this region. In addition, these villages and rural areas have been located on the route of the passengers travelling to Khorasan Razavi-a crowded, popular route in different seasons, especially holidays.
Therefore, on the one hand, due to its high tourism potentials and the fact that it is located on a crossroad, it appears that tourism is not yet significantly recognized by these rural areas. On the other hand, as tourism is often used for developing destinations with different tourism sources and multiple limitations (Ðurašević, 2014), focusing on various parts, these rural areas can enjoy theme-based tourism to develop new tourism products in order to improve visitors' experiences. Thus, the objectives of the present study are, first, to introduce a set of developing tourism subjects (themes) based on the potentials, platforms, and capacities of the rural areas, and second, to provide operational strategies for following up with the identified thematic forms.

Literature Review
The themes of tourism-thematic tourism World Tourism Organization and European Travel Commission (2017), in a book published on the thematic tourism, explain the "theme" of tourism as follows: private tourism operators and destination authorities apply themes for making and marketing tourism products. They highlight key characteristics, features, and unique statements, and give identity to a tourism activity of asset (World Tourism Organization & European Travel Commission, 2017).
In this respect, theme in tourism may refer to any unique feature of a destination that would create a foundation for tourism product development at the destination. As explained by World Tourism Organization and European Travel Commission (2017), the most critical tourism themes or subjects can be determined by 15 main areas (Table 1).
According to the definition of tourism theme, it seems that thematic tourism is a tourism activity that occurs around a particular theme (Cervinka, Svajdova, & Tykva, 2014). Indeed, thematic tourism is a kind of journey that initially satisfies a given interest such as an entertainment, a physical activity, an interest in a particular subject, or a particular type of destination. Thematic tourism may refer to some forms of tourism concentrating on the activities or creating contexts for special markets (i.e. less number of tourists). It also refers to new places, products, and authentic experiences. Thematic tourism not only provides the experience of visiting places and things to visitors but also brings the experience of sharing emotions and excitements to them. In fact, it must be stated that the market trend has significantly changed. Earlier, quality of the services was a key to distinguish tourism products; whereas, today, visitors look for experiences-they are more often ready to pay higher prices in return for unique experiences. In other words, current visitors are increasingly looking for authenticity, and a way to emotionally engage with the local culture and society (undoubtedly, this is one of the most fundamental and critical trends in the modern tourism around the world); in an extended change, it is rooted in the values and is known as "experience economy" (World Tourism Organization & European Travel Commission, 2017). However, it must be noted that introducing the notion of thematic tourism does not entail simultaneously creating a new type of tourism; rather, it entails implement-ing a new concept for developing a tourist destination in line with the parties' demands and specific needs (Ðurašević, 2014). Therefore, some consider thematic tourism against mass tourism (Cervinka et al., 2014). Robinson, Heitmann, and Dieke (2011) divided tourism into two main categories: Niche Market and Mass Market, in which themes are known as Niche Market pivots.

Theme groupings
Nature of the aspiration History Experiencing and understanding the past through buildings, artefacts, reconstitutions, or other material or immaterial traces and memories.

Pilgrimage
Experiencing or sharing a sense of spirituality or sublimation through travel.

Roots
Discovering and experiencing the heritage of one's ancestors or one's people.

Landscape
Seeing and communing with remarkable and beautiful sites, including coastal, mountain, rural, and even man-made landscapes.
Natural systems -ecological and geological Discovering the life and appreciating the natural forces that form exceptional places.

Cultural icons
Visiting sites and monuments, including art galleries and museums that are recognized and admired on a national or international basis.

Urban life 1
Participating in the life of cities, through strolling, shopping, nightlife or other urban activities that capture the essence of the urban setting, including interacting with local people.

Rural life
Participating in the life of rural areas, through activities that capture the essence of the rural setting and interacting with local people.

Marine life
Participating in activities that provide insight into maritime industries, such as going oyster catching with a local oyster catcher.
Artistic excellence in visual and performance arts Appreciating and engaging in activities relating to visual and performance arts in a destination, including related festivals and events.
Traditional crafts Appreciating and engaging in activities relating to traditional crafts in a destination, including related events.

Food and Drink
Discovering and learning about or experiencing the food and drink of different regions and countries, in restaurants, farms, plantations, vineyards, breweries, or at markets and local festivals

Physical activity
Pursuing physical activities where the setting provides a critical backdrop for the experience, including outdoor adventure sports or endurance, journeys to extreme locations, or long-distance running, hiking, cycling or riding.
Industrial tourism -modern and traditional Engaging in activities that demonstrate past, present and state-of-the-art work practices in industry, such as factory, mine or power station tours .

Well-being
Travelling to experience a healthy lifestyle and stimulation of well-being through activities such as spa treatments or meditation.
Credit: World Tourism Organization, 2017 JSRD 1. As the present research mainly focuses on the rural areas, this theme has been excluded.

Methodology
This is an applied research as the results can be extended and employed. It is also a descriptive (non-experimental) study as it is conducted in a natural context with no intervention. Moreover, this qualitative study identifies developing forms of thematic tourism in the rural areas of Meyami County through a case study. A case study is an experimental research using multiple sources to explore an existing phenomenon in the real context, where the phenomenon and its context cannot be clearly distinguished (Yin, 2018). Case studies are conducted when the researcher (scholar) needs to understand or explain a phenomenon (Seyed Imami, 2005). This method is implemented in 6 steps (Danaeifard, 2013;Danarifard, Alvani, & Azar, 2007;Stake, 1995) (Figure 1).

Statement of the problem:
it states a problem (phenomenon) challenging the mind. The research focus or intention is determined following the literature review and statement of the problem. The research focus is on what the research can rely on as a basis during the study process. The understudied research subject can be often a plan, group, team, or even a decision. Whereas, in the present research, regarding literature review and highlighting thematic tourism as a new notion in tourism, on the one hand; and features and special location of Meyami County rural areas in tourism, on the other hand, the research main question is to identify and determine various forms of thematic tourism in rural areas and followup strategies in the understudied area.
2. Case selection, data collection, and data analysis methods: this is a critical step for further levels. The scholar must select one or more cases reflecting the research question of the first step. Respecting the statement of the problem, a specific geographic area -rural areas of Meyami County-was selected.  (2012) It deals with how a thematic path develops around cultural heritage, and finally defines 6 steps of theme site selection, information search, creating a network of partners and database, interpretation of the prototype, economic evaluation, finalization and market entry for developing themeoriented cultural heritage path.

Project of Thematic tourism development through the preservation of Polyphonic music
AblaniaCountry (2014-2020) It focuses on using music as a subject to develop tourism in Greece.
Green paper for the promotion of thematic tourism in the Mediterranean Basin

Europeancommission
(2014-2020) In the Mediterranean Basin in cooperation with the EU within 2014-2020. In a case study, different tools are used for data collection. Thus, given the existing potentials and sources, the present research benefited from three sources to identify various developing forms of thematic tourism in the rural areas of Meyami County: • Literature review to analyze development forms and models of the proposed tourism • Local observations of potentials, sources, and existing attractions • Interviews with experts and tourism activists in the industry to identify developing tourism models 3. Preparation for data collection: Being prepared to manage a large volume of data prior to data collection would save time for the researcher. Due to the nature of the case study, the researcher collects a large volume of data from several sources. The pre-research timetable lets the scholar organize, save, and manage data in such databases. In the present study, all studies were followed according to a predetermined program; and all research data were saved in individual thematic files.
4. Collecting field data: the researcher must systematically collect and store multiple data sources. Data storage is fundamental to customizing the themes and models (main contents).

Data evaluation and analysis:
using a set of interpretations, the researcher evaluates research data to find all the relationships respecting the research questions. 6. Reporting: the purpose of reporting is to answer the research questions based on the results such that the reader can figure them out.
The research statistical population included tourism academic experts, as well as tourism activists in the region. Interviews were open and interviewees were questioned about various forms of thematic tourism, as well as follow-up strategies of the proposed forms. Research samples included 30 individuals selected through a purposive snowball sampling method regarding the frequency of thematic tourism forms and saturation (Table  3). Interview data were analyzed by a thematic analysis method.

Geography
The case study here is the rural areas of Meyami County. Meyami, with an area of 8356 km 2 , is located on the southern hillside of Alborz Mountain Range. It is surrounded by Golestan province in the north, Shahrud city from the south and west, and the North Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi from the east. Its minimum eastern longitude is 55°, 18′; and its minimum northern latitude is 36°, 8′. It is 1081 m above sea level (Statistical Center of Iran, 2016) ( Figure 2).
Meyami County has several villages surrounded by green areas on one side and enclosed by desert on the other side. In addition to natural attractions, it is situated on the Silk Road; hence, it has several historical-cultural attractions, too.  (Table 4). Meanwhile, the former is more appealing to tourists.
However, the concept of theme tourism is not well established in the villages, and the formation of themes can be a good solution for more tourism development in the region. One of the centers of shirt production in the country with several workshops in this field

Diary Products Jodane Village
Milk production center of Semnan province JSRD

Findings
Inspired by the WTO classification and given the tourism potentials and attractions of Meyami County, 9 main themes (subjects) were determined in this study for tourism development: Historical-cultural, religious, rural life, agriculture and food, industry, health, physical ac-tivity, landscape, natural systems, and geology. In some classifications, the main themes contain several subthemes providing market segmentation. Executive plans for each theme development were presented (Table5). One of the tourism themes that can be developed in the villages of Meyami is the historical-cultural theme due to the historical richness of the region and the benefit of various historical attractions. In this regard, 5 subthemes can be considered, of which 4 sub-themes refer to historical buildings such as mosques, caravanserais,  Besides, one of the sub-themes identified below the historical-cultural theme is the events and festivals theme: "Jahanabad Caravanserai used to be a place for government events, and now it is possible to do the same and start holding a series of ceremonies and celebrations in this caravanserai" (Interviewee No. 4) Enjoying visits to the tombs of celebrities and shrines within the villages of the Meyami County are also among the capacities that can be used to develop tourism: "Currently, traveling to gain spiritual experiences has become one of the tourists' motivators. In Meyami County, a number of these capacities are available; such as Sheikh Hassan Jori or Ibn Yamin Foroumadi. It can be attractive " (Interviewee No. 25) The experience of rural life is another thing that has met with success in recent years and Meyami villages also have this tourism potential.
"We have 7 target villages in Meyami; each of which has unique capacities for tourism. If we provide the necessary infrastructure for these villages, we can achieve the goal of tourism development in the county" (Interviewee No. 7) The main focus of rural development in Miami is on the agricultural industry due to the availability of numerous agricultural lands. This capacity can lead to expandable forms of tourism on this basis, such as agricultural tourism.
"It may be a good idea to use numerous agricultural farms in the county villages and build tourism farms" (Interviewee number 18) Also, given the presence of traditional dishes in the area, the definition of food theme for tourism development will not be far from the mind. To the extent that it is even possible to use the mentioned capacity to create traditional restaurants in the road: "The people of Forumad village have various kinds of local food. Qarooti (it's a traditional food) had been forgotten. But now, thanks to the food festivals, these foods can be well introduced to tourists and local people may earn more money" (Interviewee number 10) The utilization of existing special industrial capacities is one of the tools of the modern world for tourism development.
"Mohammadabad was shown on television some time ago. A significant number of men's shirt manufacturing units in the village have the capacity for holding industrial tours." (Interviewee number 26) Variety of natural forms in the area that allow the implementation of various sports activities "There is a cave called Nam Nick Cave. A Polish researcher has even studied the cave. It is a good attraction for caving" (Interviewee number 1) In the northern villages of Meyami, the poppy and sunflower plains create unique landscapes that have a high capacity for the development of the landscape theme.
"The views we have of the poppy and sunflower plains in the village of Hosseinabad Kalposh are unique. Many international professional photographers like to go somewhere and photograph flowers" (Interviewee No. 9)

Discussion
The purpose of the present research was to initially identify and determine the main developable tourism themes and subthemes in the rural areas of Meyami County, and to present follow-up executive plans for each theme. Thus, a case study was carried out using literature review, observations, and expert interviews. In other words, it was an attempt, like some previous studies (Bader, 2017;European Commission, 2014-2020Lapochkina, 2015) to identify a set of tourism themes that can be developed in a particular area. The research led to a set of developing subthemes entailed in the main themes of cultural-historical, religion, rural life, agriculture and food, industry, health, physical activity, landscape, and natural systems and geology. Cultural-historical theme includes historical mosques, caravanserais, castles, cemeteries of the celebrities and popular figures, and events and festivals sub-themes. The pilgrimage theme is related to religious tourism. Rural life can be defined as a theme in targeted villages and rural areas with tourism potential. Agricultural life and food theme contain agriculture and food sub-themes separately. Halotherapy in Meyami is related to health main theme. Meanwhile, the Physical activity theme includes different sub-themes like bicycling, caving, skiing, riding, motorbike rally, desert touring, climbing, and fishing. Landscape as another main them is cited to poppy and sunflower plain as well as the dam. Natural systems and geology as the last main theme have four sub-themes; jungle, haloxylon, cave, and salt dome (Figure 3).
A developing tourism form and a set of follow-up operational strategies were also provided respecting each identified theme. Beyond the noted discussions, the authors found that to develop tourism in the rural areas of Meyami County, it is necessary to consider the following: • The capacity of Caravanserai: as mentioned in "An Introduction to the Development of Meyami County" document, it is known as the city of Caravanserais. Therefore, this valuable potential can be utilized in various forms as traditional residence and restaurant, recreating historical events at the heart of the aforementioned Caravanserais, using for recreational activities such as festivals, events, and star observations.
• Enhancing tourism infrastructure: rural areas of Meyami County suffer from poor tourism infrastructure. Thus, it is necessary to develop infrastructure focusing on the targeted rural areas and tourism regions with high potentials.
• Designing, developing, and marketing of specific forms of tourism in the understudied rural areas: regarding the extended variety of attractions in the understudied areas, different forms of tourism such as geo-tourism, medical tourism, sports tourism, industrial tourism, and agricultural tourism can be developed as well. Undoubtedly, such variety can be followed by successful tourism.
• Complementary plans along with thematic tourism: paying attention to other critical plans and proposals such as educational programs for local executives, local people, preparing an interactive tourism map of the area, local festivals, and establishing NGOs along with developing the proposed product may ensure the success of understudied areas in tourism.
• Cooperating with influencers such as bloggers, journalists, and even popular tour leaders is another solution to facilitate theme-based tourism development as the influencers are followed by many followers in social media such as Instagram; thus, any promotion and advertising of thematic tourism in the rural areas of Meyami County will be visited by many people around the world.