The effects of rural tourism on the sustainability of local communities (Case study: Rural areas of Rudbar Qasran around Tehran metropolis)

The current research aimed to identify rural tourism's role in the sustainability of local communities in Rudbar Qasran villages.

The research method is qualitative-quantitative, and the statistical population in this research includes two groups: First, specialists and graduates of tourism and rural geography were targeted for interviews. (until the results are saturated), so 50 individuals as participants were determined by available sampling. Second part: Rural residents (Rudbar Qasran), of which 375 people were determined as the sample size based on random sampling. The grounded theory model and SPSS software were used to analyze the information in the qualitative and quantitative parts.

The results in the qualitative section extracted factors such as culture, Integrated and coherent management in the village and tourism organizations, legal and financial, infrastructure, using specialized labor, marketing, and avoiding inconsistent patterns. Also, the Kendall rank correlation test results showed that concepts of the mentioned categories and semantic units could be generalized to the population. In the quantitative part of the research, spearman correlation and regression showed a significant and positive relationship between the factors proposed in rural tourism development and local communities sustainability (economic, social, and environmental dimensions). Also, the regression results showed that among the factors entered into the regression equation, the factor (integrated and coherent management in the village and tourism organizations) predicts positive changes in the dependent variable (sustainability of local communities) more than other factors. Among all factors, "integrated and coherent management in the village and tourism organizations," with a value of 0.167, directly affects the stability of the local communities of Rudbar Qasran villages.

All the tourism development factors raised in this study can take a big step in the sustainability of local communities in Rudbar Qasran villages. These factors will improve the employment status and income of residents of local communities. Furthermore, if the service sector improves, public and private investments will provide welfare conditions for the residents of the villages.