Evaluating the Economic and Social Effects of Tourism on Tourist Attractive Villages of Izeh and Baghmalek Counties

The villages of Izeh and baghmalek cities are considered as tourist destinations in Khouzestan province due to their valuable natural, cultural and historical attractions. Therefore, in the present study, the economic and social effects of tourism on the tourist attractive villages of Izeh and Baghmalek were studied.

The present study is conducted with applied purposes using a descriptive-analytical method. The library and field methods were used for data collection. The statistical population of the study included 20 rural experts and managers and 242 rural heads of households who were selected by simple random sampling. Villages that had the potential for tourism were selected. In order to use the indicators, based on the theoretical foundations of previous researches and studies, the indicators were screened and operationalized. Based on the nature of the research, 10 indicators with a higher degree of reproducibility were selected. SPSS tests and Prometheus technique were used to analyze the data.

Assessing the effects of tourism on the studied villages showed that tourism has the most positive effects on indicators of improving facilities and services, booming local products market and household income growth and employment, respectively, and the most negative effects on cultural interactions and population dynamics, land price, and changes in lifestyle and security. Moreover, the results of Prometheus technique showed that the percentage of changes in tourism effects was 80% in Imamzadeh Abdolah, above 69% in Shivand, 59.14 in Mal agha, 27.26% in Robat Hazrat Soleiman, 17.69% in Abolabbas, 16.12% in Susan village, 10.75% in Pian, 10.63% in Sadat Hosseini village and 8.46% in Kamal village.

The community living in Izeh and Baghmalek cities have been facing many problems for many years. In such a way that the mentioned cities were deprived of the minimum facilities and welfare services. These problems are more pronounced in rural communities. Therefore, considering that the villages of the two cities, have natural potentials for tourism, handicrafts, local and indigenous products, etc., it is possible to develop tourism and take advantage of these capacities to improve facilities and services, income, quality of life, etc., in these villages.