The Role of Creative Tourism in Sustainable Entrepreneurship of Rural Areas (Case Study: Historic Villages of Northwestern Iran)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the creative tourism role in the development of Entrepreneurial activities in historic villages of northwestern Iran. The current research is applied using the descriptive-analytical method. The data was collected using a closed-ended questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was reviewed using experts panel and a pre-test. Also, Cronbach's alpha method was used to determine the reliability of the items obtained at 0.868. The statistical population of the study consists of 850 households in four historic-cultural villages of Darsajin (Zanjan province), Kandovan (East Azerbaijan province), Atashgah (Ardabil province), and Hasanlou (West Azerbaijan province) in northwest Iran and by using the Cochran formula, 235 of them were selected as the sample. One-sample t-test, regression, and path analysis were used for data analysis. The results indicated that among the studied indicators, the most profound impact of creative tourism in investment indicators was on tourism activities (3.72) and the development of public tourism infrastructure in the region (3.70). The results of path analysis showed that investment in the field of tourism (0.346) has the biggest direct influence, the 'individuals' and local 'groups' creativity (0.143) has the hugest indirect influence, and the investment in tourism (0.462) has the biggest total influence on rural entrepreneurship improvement through the development of creative tourism. Based on the results, creative tourism plays a significant role in creating and developing entrepreneurship in the historic villages of northwestern Iran. In this way, it has developed public tourism infrastructures and increased investments.