Analysis of Themes Affecting Sustainable Rural Tourism in Rural Areas of Isfahan Province

Tourism development is increasingly considered essential in promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, and promoting food security. From the sustainable development point of view, tourism is a reliable source in many countries that can have an increasing effect on growing income at the national and local level, as well as advancing social opportunities and transforming and expanding production while preserving the interests of future generations. In the sustainable livelihood approach, to solve this problem and increase the assets of the local people, the diversification of the economic activities of the villages is emphasized a lot. Because the more diverse the economy of the villages is, by creating more opportunities and taking advantage of the capabilities, the more villagers will have access to the standards of life. With over 22,000 historical and natural buildings and monuments, 1,850 of which have been registered nationally and seven of them globally, Isfahan province is the focus of foreign and domestic tourists. There are over 600 historical monuments in Isfahan province, and more than half are in rural areas. On the other hand, in the past years, with the expansion of communication routes, as well as the increase in trips and the increase in the number of tourists in the rural areas of this province, it has witnessed the development of tourism. However, the question is whether this development is sustainable. Undoubtedly, there are obstacles and challenges facing ∗ Corresponding Author: a.hajarian@ltr.ui.ac.ir How to Cite: Kazemiyeh, Hajarian, A. (2022). Analysis of Themes Affecting Sustainable Rural Tourism in Rural Areas of Isfahan Province. Tourism Management Studies, 17(59), 115- 151. doi: 10.22054/tms.2022.68582.2730 116 | مطالعات مدیریت گردشگری | سال 17 | شماره 59 | پاییز 1401 sustainable tourism on this path, and knowing these obstacles helps the growth and development of sustainable tourism. Therefore, the critical problem of the current research is to identify the obstacles and challenges facing sustainable tourism development in the studied region.

The research data has been obtained through semi-structured in-depth targeted interviews with 20 local managers, investors, and local residents with expertise. According to theoretical saturation with deep analysis and the adequacy of the codes acquired and also found, new concepts were used in the subsequent interviews with the help of independent coders. The primary research tool is the interview.

The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed by the thematic analysis method. The main themes were identified to analyze the obstacles and challenges of sustainable rural tourism. Based on the data's thematic analysis, 29 basic concepts have been identified that form the basis of the research model. These concepts were divided into seven categories, including policy, infrastructural, organizational, economic, social, environmental, and physical quality, as organizing themes of the research topic.

In this research, according to the themes extracted, the category of sustainable tourism development is a concept that can cover other categories and has an analysis aspect. The interviewees admitted that if policy obstacles are removed in sustainable tourism development, planning, projects, administrative activities, and so on., they will have successful results, and its positive effects will be manifested. People living in the village who use its resources and their life and ways of livelihood are based on the realities and entities of the place. Therefore, it is inevitable to consider all the effective aspects of sustainable tourism, especially management and marketing and the participation of local communities. Due to the phenomenon of sustainable tourism development, it is considered the primary factor and central core of the theme analysis model. Another point that should be noted is that sustainable tourism development is a multi-stakeholder process that includes all stakeholders. All stakeholders should participate in identifying problems and resources of interest in developing and implementing related plans with strategies that bring social تحلیل مضامین موثر بر گردشگری پایدار روستایی…حجاریان | 117 and economic sustainability. With the development of sustainable tourism, one can see its consequences, such as "reducing the migration of local people to the city," "empowering local people," "reducing social harm," and "increasing the level of participation and sense of responsibility and cooperation among residents." "Improving the educational situation," "Improving the population structure," "Reducing the dependence of local people on credits and facilities and government assistance such as subsidies," "Upgrading the infrastructure of tourism and tourism industry," "Rural growth and development," "Improving livelihood local people," "Increasing the quality of products," "Improving economic well-being" and "Moving on the path of sustainable development."