Analyzing the Effects of Rural Tourism on Improvement of Rural People's Social Welfare: A Case Study of Barfejin Village, Hamedan County of Iran

This study aimed mainly at investigating the effects of rural tourism on improvement of rural people's social welfare in Barfejin village of Hamedan County of Iran in 2017.It was an applied and descriptive-correlation study using a quantitative approach in a survey method. The statistical population included 436 persons, among which 205 people were selected using the Kerjcie and Morgan table in a random sampling method. The required data were collected through a questionnaire, the questions of which were arranged in three parts. The data analysis was conducted in a path analysis method using a structural equation modeling through WarpPLS. The study results showed that the variables including educational level, economic effects of tourism, infrastructural effects of tourism, agricultural effects, and social capital had direct impacts on social welfare while the highest impacts were related to the infrastructural effects of tourism on the rural people's employment with the path coefficient of 0.502 and the effects of the social capital produced by tourism on the social welfare with the path coefficient of 0.372.