Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Associate professor of Geography and rural planning, Payame Noor university, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The present study investigates the development of tourism in the rural environment of oraman district in Sarvabad County,to identify the impact of this development on changes in the resilience status of the vulnerable rural environment. To this end, data were collected through a documentary method for the theoretical section and a survey method based on questionnaire distribution and interviews for the field section. The effects of tourism development on changes in the resilience level of the rural environment were measured in two periods: before and after tourism development in the studied area. The research adopts a mixed-method approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative methods.Analysis of the collected data revealed that the average resilience level of the villages increased from 2.81 in the pre-tourism development period to 2.95 in the post-development period, at a significance level of 0.05, following tourism development in the region. Overall, 62 obstacles or challenges hinder the optimal development of tourism in terms of its satisfactory impact on improving resilience in the studied villages. These challenges are summarized into four main factors: managerial deficiencies, weak planning, and lack of services and facilities required for tourism development in the region; insufficient financial resources and the security environment in the villages for economic diversification through tourism; social shortcomings and an unfavorable business environment for economic diversification in the villages through tourism; and weaknesses in marketing, training, and lack of demand for tourism development in the rural areas.
Keywords
)