Urban economics is one of the important topics of study in the field of cities, and branding is considered a valid and powerful method in economic activities. The basis of branding for any tourism destination lies in its unique environmental characteristics and features, referred to as environmental factors. This study examines this subject in the city of Meshgin Shahr. The present research is applied in terms of its purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of its nature and method. Data collection was carried out through library-documentary studies and field surveys (questionnaires). The statistical population of the study consists of the citizens of Meshginshahr, from whom 383 individuals were selected as the statistical sample using the random-cluster sampling method. Subsequently, the environmental factors in the studied area were assessed using a one-sample t-test, and the contribution of each factor and its relationship with branding was determined using one-way ANOVA and the DEMATEL technique. The results indicate that all dimensions are effective in the tourism branding of Meshginshahr. Overall, environmental factors achieved an average score of 3.83, which is above the baseline, and have effectively contributed to the destination branding of Meshginshahr as a tourist destination.

The results of the one-way ANOVA test reveal that the highest average score belongs to the component of loyalty to the tourist destination. The value of the partial squared beta shows that, in the current situation, about 75% of the total variance or differences in the dimensions of branding are related to group differences or differences between the seven dimensions, which is confirmed by the DEMATEL technique. Among the effective dimensions of tourism branding, the natural dimension has the highest impact (14.980), while the dimension of awareness of tourism destinations has the highest influence (14.911).