The Role of Tourism Development in the Physical Changes of Rural Settlements (Case Study: Ziarat Village, Gorgan City)

Tourism in rural areas can play an effective role in all aspects of the villages, including creating employment and income for the villagers, diversifying the activities of the rural economy, helping to provide infrastructure services, and physical-spatial changes in the villages. One of the effects of tourism in villages is physical changes. The research aimed to investigate the role of tourism on the physical changes of the studied village. The statistical population of the descriptive-analytical research consists of heads of households living in Ziarat village. 253 heads of households living in Ziarat village were determined as participants using Cochran's formula. Three indicators "construction", "land use change" and "physical satisfaction" were used in the form of a Likert scale. The data were analyzed using SPSS. The results showed that the physical changes that have taken place due to the development of tourism in the studied village have caused an excessive increase in the construction of second houses and villas, the expansion of tourism facilities and services, the change of agricultural land use to residential land, the increase in land prices, and the destruction of agricultural land on a large scale. Moreover, neglecting the village texture and the spaces needed by a rural family, including a space for keeping livestock and storing agricultural products, and the tendency to create multiple floors in new constructions have caused dissatisfaction among rural residents. Moreover, to reduce the negative consequences of tourism development, it will be necessary to pay more attention to managers and planning agencies in the field of tourism.