Environmental-Physical Changes of Second Homes Tourism in Rural Area Applying Stability Approach (Case study: Roudbar-e-Ghasran Shemiranat County)

Like other tourism models, second-home tourism leads to various consequences in rural areas. Due to the nature and development of this model, a lot of physical-environmental changes have been brought about in rural areas. For persistent development of second-home tourism, understanding both the impacts and the consequences of this model seem to be necessary. In Iran, one of those rural areas in which this model has been expanded and incorporated into inhabitants’ lives, is the rural area of Rudbar Qasran. Accordingly, this study aims at exploring the environmental-physical impacts of second-home tourism development in this geographical area. This applied study benefitted from the descriptive/analytic methods of data analysis. Library and field data collection methods were employed to collect the data. In the field method, a questionnaire was utilized in which the Cochran formula was used; 238 households were selected as the statistical sample. Moreover, descriptive/inferential statistical methods were employed to interpret the collected data. The findings showed that the model of second-home tourism had the greatest impact on the index of environmental changes and the least effect on the infrastructural services improvements. It was also found that none of the changes was statistically significant. The results also revealed that there were significant differences in views of people whose jobs were dependent on tourism compared with those who had other jobs regarding the effects of second-home tourism development.