The impact of women's participation on their attitude towards sustainable tourism development in Shiraz: A SEM approach

Shiraz is one of the most attractive Iranian cities for domestic and foreign tourists, so most of the development plans in Shiraz are based on tourism. This study investigates the impact of women’s social participation on their attitude towards sustainable tourism development in Shiraz. Applying a quantitative approach, this study conducted a survey method, and an on-site self-administered questionnaire was distributed randomly to 383 respondents. Regarding the structural model, the overall model fit statistics are within the generally accepted thresholds for good fitness. Structural equation modeling reveals that a significant positive impact of women’s social participation on their attitude towards sustainable tourism development is detected. In the measurement model of women’s participation, the cultural dimension has the stronger coefficient with latent construct, and for the dependent construct, the economic dimension has the stronger coefficient with attitude towards sustainable tourism development. Management participation is the lowest component of women’s participation that reveals structural constraints for them. Attitude towards the economic aspect of tourism development is the highest component and shows the importance of economic issues for women in Shiraz. Women’s participation can improve their positive attitude towards sustainable tourism development, so to gain success on tourism plans, it is necessary to create a participatory space for women. and also their participatory approaches can be effective in laying the groundwork for sustainable development of communities and attitudes towards tourism development. this will not be possible without the support of this important section of society. accordingly' to in the present study 'an attempt has been made to investigate the relationship between social participation of shiraz women in their attitude towards tourism development.