Analysis of the projected image of tourism destinations on photographs: the case of Iran on Instagram

This study aims to investigate the representative characteristics of the projected image of Iran, a destination largely neglected in the tourism literature. The projected image was obtained through an analysis of shared photographs and content on Instagram. To that end, we selected two official pages of the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft on Instagram. To identify the key features of Iran's projected image, the authors classified photographs into 14 groups, determined the geographical distribution of shared pictures, and applied hashtag visualization in order to ascertain the most engaging posts. The findings of the study show that while most tourists travelling to Iran are religious tourists, the leading attribute of Iran's projected image relies on its rich history and landscapes.