Factors Affecting the Development of Entrepreneurship in Rural Tourism

Nowadays, rural tourism is considered as an important part of economic activity.
This main economic activity is taken into consideration from different points of view.
On the one hand, it is looked as a policy for diversifying the economy of rural
communities. On the other hand, it is considered as a mean to reach mobility and
national economic growth. Rural tourism can create opportunities and possibilities
for rural employment and income. It develops small businesses and provides jobs.
Regarding this, the main question of the present study is: by which means and under
which circumstances, tourism, affects rural entrepreneurship development? The aim
of this study is to analyze and evaluate the factors affecting the development of
entrepreneurship in rural areas in central part of Anar. The research is descriptive
in terms of method. Data were gathered from library research and field study, in
which, a questionnaire was applied. The population of the study consists of a sample
of 30 directors, 90 local authorities and rural residents, who were selected by
Simple Random sampling. The SWOT model was applied in order to analyze data.
The results showed that the factors related to the strength had the highest rating in
the study. Also, “being located on the main roads of the country" among the
strengths, "weak entrepreneurial culture among residents" and " negligence of
officials" among the weaknesses, "more varied ways to make money" among
opportunities and "the destruction of ancient monuments and historic buildings" and
"changes in land use and landscape of the village" among the threats were the most
important sub factors in rating. According to the scores of the matrix of internal and
external factors, the extracted strategy is to maintaining and protecting.