Modeling the Consequences of Second Home Tourism Expansion in Rural Areas and its Influence on Local Community's Satisfaction (Case Study: Ghamsar District of Kashan County)

INTRODUCTIONThroughout the world, and particularly in advanced countries, second homes are very popular. Similarly, in Iran, in line with the global boost, the number of second homes has increased significantly. Ghamsar district, adjacent to such big cities as Tehran and Kashan, is one of the prominent natural attractions in Iran which accommodates many second home tourists, owing to its clement weather in summer. The characteristics of second home tourism, such as long stays in the region, indicates that some effects manifest themselves more obviously. Therefore, the present research tries to investigate the effects of expansion of second home tourism on the economic, social, environmental and physical structure of the region.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKSecond home tourism is a type of tourism which affects rural and urban societies in various ways, through increasing the number of summer or vacation home owners. It can be said that second home tourism is a continuous, permanent process which can at least help protect the existing jobs in local communities, due to an influx of tourists and the concomitant increased demand. A crucial prerequisite for second home tourism in the local economy is that second homes and places of permanent residence should be distant enough. Varied approaches to tourism, such as mass tourism, economic, geospatial, and society based tourism have been considered. Expansion of tourism with a concurrent attention to environmental, economic and social aspects was proposed so that along with a regard for the environment, economic development and expansion of social justice are also taken into consideration, as none of the previously mentioned approaches is comprehensive and each emphasizes a particular aspect of tourism.
METHODOLOGYThe present study is an applied - developmental one and uses a descriptive-analytical methodology through survey. Therefore, in addition to library method, field research has also been utilized. The population of the research consists of 9225 residents of Ghamsar. The sample size was determined to be 198, using Cochrane’s formula. The data for the present study was gathered using questionnaires. The validity of the questionnaire was established through face validity. Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. The study presents a model of the consequences of the expansion of second home tourism and its influence on local community’s satisfaction in Ghamsar district, using a survey approach and structural equation modelling.
DISCUSSIONIn the present study, the effects of second home tourism expansion in Ghamsar district was investigated and the degree of its influence on local community’s satisfaction was analyzed. The results of the independent sample t-test reveal that the influence of economic, environmental and physical indicators are statistically significant and that the expansion of second home tourism has affected all the mentioned indicators. In order to assess the statistical significance of the observed difference among economic, environmental, social and physical indicators, one-way ANOVA was used. The findings indicate an inequality in the average influence of second home expansion in Ghamsar. Scheffe’s post hoc test reveals that the average influence of physical, social and economic indicators is the same, and, hence, are subsumed within a single category. However, the average influence of environmental effects is placed in a different category.
CONCLUSIONThe findings of the second order model indicate that the economic, environmental, social and physical factors are capable of capturing the effects. A more detailed presentation of the findings of the research is as follows: the economic indicator takes the lion’s share in explaining the effects of second home tourism expansion. The factor loading for social effect of second home tourism expansion was determined to be 0.92. The physical influence of the presence of second homes in the region was analyzed using four factors. This indicator explains 0.62 of variation of second home tourism expansion effects. Environmental effects of the expansion of second home tourism were analyzed using indicators of increased pollution of water and soil resources, increase in garbage production, and encroachment upon nature (rivers, pastures, mountains, etc.). The resultant negative factor loading denotes the negative environmental effect of the expansion of tourism in the region. Finally, the findings of the structural equation modeling show that expansion of tourism has played a significant role in the satisfaction of local residents, with a factor loading a 0.47 and a significance level of 0.000. Therefore, with a confidence level of 99 percent, it can be said that expansion of tourism has influenced the satisfaction of the local residents.