Identifying the Factors Affecting Cultural Tourism in Iran: A Metaphorical Reading of the Concept of the Window of Entrepreneurial Opportunity

Tourism is one of the most dynamic economic activities of the present era, which plays an important role in sustainable development. Cultural tourism is one of the types of tourism that covers a wide range of tourists that deserves a great attention due to its important role in preserving the culture and history of different communities. Identifying opportunities and windows of entrepreneurial opportunity in the field of cultural tourism can empower start-ups and companies to develop the industry, create many jobs and businesses, and reduce the unemployment rate to some extent. Also, addressing the issue of entrepreneurship, especially in the field of cultural tourism, can open a window of opportunity to unemployed youth, indicating the importance of addressing this issue. Accordingly, the present study is an attempt to identify the factors affecting the creation of cultural tourism entrepreneurship opportunities in Iran. The research method is mixed exploratory (qualitative and quantitative). The statistical population of the research is experts. In the quantitative section, the statistical population includes experts in tourism offices and entrepreneurship area. The research instrument is a semi-structured interview and a researcher-made questionnaire. The research reliability is investigated and the reliability of the questionnaire is confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The statistical method in the quantitative stage is a confirmatory factor analysis in PLS software, a single-sample T-test, and Friedman in SPSS software. The research findings show that financial factors with average rank of 3.62, infrastructure (3.44), cultural (3.29), economic (3.12), marketing (2.72), educational (2.46), legal-administrative (2.37), and social (2.18) factors are effective in creating cultural tourism opportunities. Therefore, if tourism opportunities are available as an entrepreneurial and employment source, the development and settlement of the country's provinces will be created. Material assistance to entrepreneurial people, allocating sufficient credit and budget to research projects, private sector investment incentive plans, and financial assistance to the development of accommodation, hospitality, and infrastructure development, including policy recommendations in the financial field. Creating opportunities for cultural tourism can be.