Phenomenology of the motivation of tourists to sleep in tents for the development of tourism in Gilan province

Tent camping is a phenomenon that has been associated with significant growth in Iran's tourism industry and plays a significant role in the development of tourism. Considering the importance of the topic, in this study, the phenomenological identification of tourists' motivation to sleep in tents for the development of tourism in Gilan province was done. The current study is an applied-developmental study in terms of its purpose, and in terms of the data collection method, it is a qualitative research based on an interpretive approach. In order to collect data, in-depth interviews were used with people with lived experience, that is, tent-sleeping tourists. The Holstein method was used to validate the qualitative analysis and the observed agreement coefficient was estimated at 0.631. Sampling was done with a purposeful method, which finally reached theoretical saturation with thirteen interviews. Qualitative analysis of phenomenology and MaxQDA software were used to analyze the research data. The research findings showed that economic motivations, love of nature, sense of adventure, individual factors, personality characteristics of tourists are the most important motivations of camping tourists. Also, this phenomenon is associated with challenges, including the lack of reliable and safe accommodations, limited access to large accommodations, lack of coherent policies for pricing accommodations, lack of monitoring of existing accommodations, lack of sufficient planning and determination for tourists, lack of information to residents. Tourists to access accommodation and low tourism culture in the country. 1. Introduction people travel for various reasons, therefore, in order to plan in the field of tourism, the motivations of tourists should be known. Therefore, it is very important to explain the factors and characteristics that contribute to the motivation of tourists and the phenomenon of tourism. It is social and environmental Motivation is considered as one of the important variables to explain travel behavior. Understanding the motivational factors that lead to travel decisions and consumption behavior is vital for tourists, host communities, and tourism planners. The development of tourism in a region is determined according to the conditions, situations and trends of the world of tourism and the potential for the formation of types of tourism that attract visitors. Tourism managers must understand the motivations of visitors. According to Crompton (1979) and Fodens (1994), the main reason for tourists visiting attractions Tourism is motivation. A better understanding of tourist motivations can help to develop strategies and increase tourist visits In examining the motivation of tourists to travel, in addition to natural and historical tourist attractions, the infrastructure and facilities provided by the human factor are also very important (Stojanovic et al., 2024). There are many tourist areas with natural capacities, which are less noticed by tourists due to issues such as access, amenities and recreational facilities, and communication networks. Several factors are involved in tourist accommodations in Gilan province, some of which can be mentioned in terms of size, age, environmental structure, ownership, number of units, distance from disturbing uses, accessibility, beauty, and health and welfare facilities. Gilan, as one of the main tourism hubs of the country, should emphasize these factors and provide the ground for a safe and better stay for tourists. Therefore, in the present study, the phenomenological reasons for the tendency of travelers and tourists to sleep in tents in the province are discussed. The present study answers this key question, what is the motivation of tourists in Gilan province to sleep in tents with a phenomenological approach? 2. Literature Review Camping in a tent is a phenomenon that has a negative connotation in domestic tourism literature and reminds most people of poor people who are forced to spend the night in tents and temporary shelters in difficult circumstances, but this concept is known as "camping" in the world. It is not such an abstract phenomenon. Camping tourism is known as a developing sector of the tourism industry. Camping tourism can be broadly defined as a form of nature-based special interest tourism. It is basically determined by the flexible, temporary and mobile nature of its accommodation facilities such as tents, recreational vehicles, mobile homes etc. In other words, camping is defined as a type of tourism based on a special interest in nature. Camping was an important research topic in leisure studies in the 1960s and 1970s. With the emergence of new trends, the demand for camping has changed significantly since then, from the typical campsites with tents and fires to modern campsites that provide a variety of advanced facilities for the comfort of campers. Today, tourists want a unique experience that goes beyond experiencing nature and social interaction. Camping tourism has been recognized as a recreational activity in natural environments for many years and has become a well-established outdoor hospitality industry over the past century. Camping is defined not only by "the activity of living in a tent for a short period of time, either at a campsite or in the open," but also by some form of comfortable accommodation such as mobile transport, caravans and other forms of temporary shelter. Camping and caravan tourism are usually developed around areas with spectacular natural and cultural resources. The development of outdoor hospitality creates new sectors of tourism and observes the changes and evolution of new meanings of camping. In tourism research, the role of experience in this field is very important. Tenting and living in a temporary camp is defined by prior perceptions and an acquired connection to experience. This means that together with the physical settings of the place and the activities performed, it has the characteristics of creating a sense of place, which can be described as an experience that goes beyond the physical or sensory characteristics of a place. Studying the experiences and meanings associated with camping revealed that the most prominent elements of the camping experience are nature, social interaction and increased comfort, camping associated with the latest technological advancement. Their study identified the meanings of camping as a psychological restoration, a special place for family traditions and memories, a positive influence on family functioning, experiencing nature, expressing one's identity, social interaction with other campers, and an opportunity for children to learn and develop new skills. 3. Methodology This research was conducted with the aim of identifying the motivations of tourists to sleep in tents for the development of tourism in Gilan province. Since the findings of this research are useful for the managers of the tourism industry, it is an applied-developmental research in terms of its purpose, and it is a qualitative research in terms of the data collection method. From the philosophical point of view, this research is based on the paradigm of interpretivism, therefore, the strategy of qualitative research and specifically the method of phenomenological analysis with an inductive approach was used. The community of participants in phenomenological research are people who have experiences related to the studied phenomenon. The knowledge and awareness of these people is referred to as lived experience. Because phenomenology seeks knowledge from the perspective of first-hand and experienced people in the field under investigation. These people can be experts and experts in the field of the phenomenon under investigation or simply people who have lived experience in a special field. Donald Polkinghorne (1989) in the book "Phenomenological Research Method" believes that interviewing 5 to 15 people with lived experience A complete description of the desired phenomenon is enough. Van Manen (2016) also mentioned that slow conversations, writing responses and multimedia pieces are among the data collected by the phenomenologist. In general, the appropriate criterion for the end of sampling in phenomenology is to reach theoretical saturation. Based on this, the community of participants in the qualitative section includes tourists who have experienced camping while traveling to Gilan province. Sampling in the qualitative section was done with non-probability and targeted methods. In this research, after the 11th interview, the results were repeated and the data analysis did not lead to new codes and constructs, however, to avoid false theoretical saturation, 2 more interviews were conducted and finally 13 interviews were conducted with tent tourists. Since phenomenology studies that are conducted with an exploratory purpose are in-depth interviews, semi-structured interviews with experts were also used in this research. Holsti's proposed method was used to validate the conducted interviews. Qualitative interviews were analyzed using Claizian's descriptive phenomenological method in seven steps. Also, qualitative data analysis was done with MaxQDA 20 software... 4. Results According to the research findings, 236 codes were identified in the open coding stage. And through axial coding, 6 main categories and 43 basic categories were obtained. Categories regarding the motivation of tourists to sleep in tents for the development of tourism in Gilan province were presented 5. Conclusion The research findings showed that economic motivations, love of nature, sense of adventure, individual factors, personality characteristics of tourists are the most important motivations of camping tourists. On the other hand, this phenomenon is also associated with challenges, including the lack of reliable and safe accommodations, limited access to large accommodations, lack of coherent policies f