Assessment of Social Carrying Capacity of the Host Community for the Tourism Development (Case Study: Coastal Villages in North Daboi District, Mahmoodabad Township)

The purpose of this research is to determine the tourism social carrying capacity of the host society and identify the factors affecting it in the coastal villages of Mahmoodabad. The research method is descriptive-analytic based on surveying. The statistical population of the study is all the household heads of the coastal villages of Darwishabad and Chucksar in the North Daboi District of Mahmoodabad Township. The statistical population of the study consists of 343 household heads. The research data were collected through a questionnaire. Data were analysed by one-sample t-test, paired t-test, and correlation, multiple regression, and path analysis. The results of the studies show that, overall, the social carrying capacity of the host society for tourism development is higher than the average level and the assumed mean rank. Therefore, the social carrying capacity of the host society has not yet reached the saturation level. The results also indicate that among the factors affecting the level of the social carrying capacity of the host society, residents’ attitude towards the economic effects of tourism development has the most direct effect and the variable of residents' attitude toward the environmental impacts of tourism development has the most significant reverse effect on the social carrying capacity of the host community.