Factors Affecting Rural Tourism Supply

The importance of rural tourism in today's world is becoming more pronounced with increasing leisure time and the limitations of urban life. There are many attractions in the villages that provide a great capacity for urban or non-native visitors to spend their leisure time. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting the rural tourism supply. The statistical population included the rural people who are engaged in agriculture and have the potential to provide or increase their rural and agricultural attraction services. The statistics and data used in this study were collected by field survey in a stratified simple sampling method using Cochran formula through the field interviews and completed 100 questionnaires in 24 villages of 12 provinces of Iran. Given the qualitative nature of the dependent variable, an ordinal logit model was used to analyze the data and identify the factors affecting the supply of rural tourism services. The study results showed that the variety of products and services, education, farm size and experience had positive effects on the rural tourism supply while the farmers’ desire to enter the tourism industry decreased by the increase in their ages. Enhancing attention of planners and policymakers to rural people and farmers who choose tourism as a second occupation is among others recommended by this study.