Investigation of The Sustainable Development of Sport Tourism in Guilan Province Using Prescott-Allen Method

This study was conducted with the aim at investigating the sustainability of sport tourism in Guilan province from the perspective of sport tourists and the host community. The statistical population was all local residents and sport tourists who had traveled to Guilan province (cities of Fooman, Shaft, Lahijan, Talesh). 400 questionnaires were distributed and finally 392 questionnaires were completed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data and radar models (AMOEBA) and Prescott-Allen barometer of sustainability were used to measure sustainability. The results showed that the level of sustainability of sport tourism in Guilan province in general in terms of the host community and sport tourists in all three components of sustainable development including economic (0.512), social, cultural (0.448) and environmental (0.449), is in the mode of "moderate sustainability" and is far from reaching the state of "sustainability". From the point of view of the host community, the economic dimension (0.493), the socio-cultural dimension (0.434) have moderate sustainability and the environmental dimension (0.386) is unsustainable. In terms of sport tourists, the economic dimension (0.532), socio-cultural dimension (0.463) and environmental dimension (0.513) have moderate sustainability. It is suggested that the officials have practical plans in order for the host community to enjoy the benefits of sport tourism, as well as to protect the natural environment.