Objectives: Given that tourism is inherently experiential, tourists acquire memorable experiences when they purchase offerings from tourism companies and interact with other tourists and locals at the destination. A memorable tourism experience often influences a tourist’s decision to revisit the destination in the future. Tourism marketing has undergone significant changes with the emergence of digital platforms and the increasing role of user-generated content. A digital tourism experience encompasses the digital support provided to tourists before, during, and after visiting a destination. While these digital technologies have different characteristics, they can be integrated at tourism touchpoints to enhance the overall experience and create memorable digital tourism experiences. Studies in the tourism sector have widely explored the concept of memorable tourism experiences, including the role of immersion in digital technologies; however, none have sufficiently explained the integration of travel, digitalization, and memorable experience within a single concept. Furthermore, Iran possesses diverse and attractive tourist destinations, such as historical cities like Isfahan and Shiraz, natural areas such as the forests of Mazandaran, and central deserts such as the Yazd Desert. However, various political, economic, and social challenges have occasionally hindered tourists from having a positive experience at these destinations. Additionally, due to negative media portrayals, many people globally lack an accurate understanding of Iran’s historical and cultural significance. Therefore, this study examines the concept of a memorable digital tourism experience, its influencing factors, and its consequences in selected Iranian tourist destinations.
Methods: This research adopts a qualitative approach utilizing grounded theory. The study utilized the insights of 18 tourism industry experts. The interview questions were open-ended, allowing respondents to express their views freely. Interviews were conducted in an informal setting, with each lasting approximately 30 minutes. To evaluate the validity of the interview questions, the Content Validity Index (CVI) was used. A CVI score exceeding 0.79 confirmed the validity of the questions. Additionally, secondary coding was used to assess the reliability of the data collection tool. Interviews were coded and reviewed independently by an additional coder, resulting in an agreement rate of 0.91.
Finding: Using open coding, 323 initial concepts were extracted. Subsequently, multiple iterations of data review and constant comparative analysis were conducted. During this phase, semantically similar codes were merged based on conceptual overlap, while codes unrelated to the research topic or those lacking sufficient significance were excluded. Through selective coding, 49 categorical propositions and 10 main categories were derived. This research led to the development of a framework for a memorable digital tourism experience through a qualitative approach.

Conclusion: Combining data-driven theory with the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework demonstrated that the seven dimensions of a memorable digital tourism experience include: enjoyment of digital tourism, novelty, knowledge and learning, meaningfulness, relevance, online sharing and socialization, and digital control and empowerment. The presented model indicates that tourism organizations can provide a foundation for these dimensions by managing stimuli—specifically tourist personal factors, the physical and cultural environment of the destination, sustainable and responsible tourism, and the electronic service scape—which ultimately leads to outcomes for both the tourist and the destination. This model can serve as a basis for designing digital marketing strategies and planning the development of smart tourism in Iran.