Identifying and prioritizing the factors affecting the development of recreational riding in Damghan

The purpose of this research was to identify and rank the factors affecting the development of equestrian sports tourism in Damghan. This research is applied with a descriptive-analytical method. The statistical population of this research included 20 experts and experts including (equestrian club owners, officials, experts, riders, trainers and judges in the field of equestrian sports in Semnan province). The sampling method is random cluster method. The research tool, which is a questionnaire based on the Hierarchical Decision Making Method (AHP), was made by the researcher based on an exploratory study and rewriting of the basics and similar studies, and its content validity was based on the opinion of experts and its reliability was based on Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.79). ) was confirmed. Through the Delphi technique and using the weighting method (9 factors), research criteria were prioritized. Based on this, 5 main criteria including planning and management, infrastructure and equipment, cultural-social, marketing and advertising, rules and regulations and 36 sub-criteria were set. The final weight of the criteria was determined based on the purpose of the research in such a way that the "planning and management" criterion with the highest weight (24.288) was ranked first. After that, there is the "rules and regulations" criterion with a weight of 11.04. In the third place, there is the "infrastructure and equipment" criterion with a weight of 5.577, then the "cultural and social" criterion with a weight of 5.577, and finally the "marketing and advertising" criterion with a weight of 2.378.