An Analysis of the Relationship Between Sustainable Competitive Advantages and Tourists Satisfaction and Loyalty (Case Study: Rural Tourism in Golestan Province)

Recently, rural tourism is a type of tourism that has the capacity to attract tourists along with rural development by making surplus income, providing a better quality of life for residents, and improving infrastructures. Regarding the mediating role of overall satisfaction in the rural tourism industry, this study investigates the relationship between the factors of sustainable competitive advantages and loyalty through a descriptive-analytical approach. The statistical population of the research involves all visitors of Golestan province villages. The statistical sample comprises 386 tourists based on Krejcie and Morgan Table. A questionnaire is used for data collection, and a pre-test is applied to test its validity and reliability. The validity of the survey is confirmed by content methods, tools, and constructs, and its reliability is confirmed by Cronbach's alpha method. The authors, while thoroughly reviewing the theoretical foundations and selecting the members of the statistical sample using simple random sampling, have tested the research hypotheses by a structural equation modeling method. Using LISREL 8.8 software, the results of the structural equation model show that there is a significant relationship between factors such as quality, value, image, and satisfaction and dependent variables of overall satisfaction and loyalty.