Analysis of Factors Influencing the Failure of Institutionalization of Tourism in Rural Areas (Case Study: Tourism Destination Villages of North Khorasan Province)

This study aimed to investigate the reasons for the failure of institutionalizing tourism programs in rural areas. So, the program of tourism target villages on the change of villages’ economic structure from the production-oriented function to post-production and response to consumer demands in the tourism target destinations of North Khorasan was evaluated. The villages were Darkesh, Rooein, Ostad, Khosraviyeh, Zavarem, Gelian and Esfidan. The results showed that governments support the onset of projects but they not help to complete the tourism cycle, i.e. physical development, counseling, training, advertising, and marketing. It is so clear that tourism in the destination villages of North Khorasan faces a gap of cooperation and local participation that should happen between entrepreneurs in villages and at the regional level. The cooperation is a prerequisite for developing new businesses and meeting financial, information and marketing needs like all other parts of Iran. Moreover, constructive interaction between governmental organizations and local communities is another determining factors for the development and institutionalization of tourism in tourism destinations. Qualitative method was used to carry out the study. Content analysis and MaxQuda software were used for data analysis. The results showed that, despite the cooperations, the Iran Housing Organization has other priorities for the development of ecotourism settlements and had focused on issues like paving the streets of villages.