Journal of Sustainable Rural Development
Volume:6 Issue: 2, Dec 2022

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.

National security highly influences villages, as they (especially those at borders) are among the strategic places of each country. Offering security at villages in Iran is among the duties of Dehyars. This article aims at investigating the significance of Dehyaries in providing social security invillages.

In so doing, related data were gathered using a questionnaire, and the principles of quantitative survey research were followed. The study sample included 70 Dehyars and rural council members, selected based on the principles of the simple random sampling method and the results of the Cochran formula from the statistical population.

There isa relationship between Dehyaries' success in offering security in the villagewith Dehyaran̕s awareness of the village security and Dehyarys power and authority. The regression test shows that Dehyaries' authority and power is the most influential factor in their successful offering of security in villages.

Results of the study indicate that Dehyarsknow their duties concerning offering social security, but training courses can influence the issues positively. The result also shows that security organizations do not cooperate properly with Dehyariesand suffer from low authority and power in providing security. Therefore, there is no guarantee that their decisions will be the basis of further measures.

The current research aimed at identifying the obstacles affecting the underdevelopment of the rural economy of Rasht in the north of Iran.

The research is a qualitative-quantitative applied study. The statistical population in this research is the villages of Rasht County. A group of researchers, specialists, and executive managers related to economic development were selected. These individuals are chosen using the qualitative research method and a snowball sampling method. Therefore, 20 researchers, experts, and managers were designated. The data analysis methods were qualitative (grounded theory) and FARAS.  

From the experts’ point of view, the underdevelopment of villages in Rasht county is due to the weakness of databases for rural industries, lack of amenities and facilities, limited agriculture and livestock processing technology, the excessive number of organizations for rural affairs, and the lack of coordination between them, lack of legal and financial support, limited markets for agricultural and livestock products, and weakness of educational programs. Also, the results from ARAS fuzzy showed that the excessive number of organizations for rural affairs, with a weight of 0.441, is the most influential factor.

Examining the issues raised in the current research shows that the economic development of the villages of Rasht city is a complex phenomenon with many obstacles to sustainability. Therefore, knowing the different aspects of living in the village and their barriers is necessary to maintain the future of the villages of Rasht.

Rural smartening means taking advantage of communication and information tools to provide services to society, which causes an increase in quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the role of smartening infrastructures on the quality of life in suburban areas in Zabol City, southeast of Iran. 

The current research is applied in terms of purpose and survey regarding the nature and method. The data required for the research has been collected by questionnaire. The statistical population includes the residents of the villages in the suburbs of Zabol City (Haji-Abad and Qasim-Abad), and the sample size was 360 people using the Cochran method. SPSS software was used for data analysis. SPSS software and F-SORA and F-KOPRAS models were used for data analysis.

The results showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between the intelligent infrastructure and the quality of life in the rural settlements in the suburbs of Zabol city, in such a way that the human variable and social capital with a direct effect value of 0.121 and an indirect effect value of 0.043, management and politics with a direct effect value 0.133 and the value of indirect effect 0.055, information technology with the value of direct effect 0.124, and the value of indirect effect 0.045 have an impact on improving the quality of life. Also, among the proposed infrastructures, management and politics have the most impact on improving the quality of life in the rural settlements in the suburbs of Zabol City, with a total causal effect of 0.188. In the following, the results of the combined models (F-SORA and F-KOPRAS) showed that the economic, environmental, and social dimensions with scores of 2.320, 70.12, and 70.00 showed more affectability from the smartening infrastructures in suburb settlement in Zabol city.

Improving the quality of life, decreasing living costs, and increasing efficiency will be acquired using smartening infrastructures in the villages of the suburbs.

One of the main issues facing rural development planners is eradicating poverty in rural communities. From 2011-2021  due to various factors, Iran's poverty and deprivation trap has grown more significant in recent years, ensnaring a sizable portion of both the rural and urban populations. The effective causes and motivators of the poverty trap in each area must be understood to plan the transition out of poverty and deprivation; this research attempted to do so in the rural communities of Birjand County.

The research uses a survey approach and a descriptive-analytical methodology. 12,854 households in 61 villages surrounding Birjand City made up the statistical population for the study, and 372 homes were chosen using Cochran's method as the size of the sample population. SPSS and PLS software were used to analyze statistical data.

88% of households in the rural areas under study are caught in the poverty trap. The critical point is that not all of the trap's elements play the same part; as a result, the literacy factor has the highest average (approaching the ideal level), while the savings index has the lowest average (toward the unfavorable level). The economic aspect, with an impact factor of 0.31, the geographical aspect, with an impact factor of 0.29, and the individual aspect, with an impact factor of 0.25, were investigated, and they all significantly impacted the poverty trap in the rural area under study.

Economic remedies and the restoration of indicators, such as bettering employment prospects, promoting agricultural products, raising the productivity of manufacturing and human resources, and boosting access to affordable financing, are the ways to end poverty in rural areas.

Several studies have shown that different forms of rural tourism can have positive and negative economic, social, and environmental effects on the region they occur in. This study aimed to evaluate the economic, social, and ecological effects of agritourism on the development of rural areas. Dulab village in Iran was selected as one of the tourism target villages.

First, the local community’s economic, social, and environmental needs (n=97) were extracted from the heads of households qualitatively. Then, agritourism was introduced to the local community as a development plan, and tourism’s positive and negative effects were assessed by factor analysis.

According to the present study, most villagers had economic incentives, including job creation, income increase, poverty reduction, creating complementary jobs, selling products without intermediaries, the welfare of the local community, and Empowering rural women to accept tourism and tourism development.

According to the results, since agriculture was the main source of income and occupation of rural people, agritourism was identified as a solution for sustainable development in rural communities, emphasizing the necessity of local community participation.

The tourism industry is one of the crucial economic sectors deeply affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially rural tourism, which has been one of the main sources of income and employment for the local community and residents of the tourist villages. Therefore, this study aims to provide a measurement model for factors affecting rural tourism resilience in the Shamshir tourist village (located in Paveh County).

The present quantitative and applied study is conducted by the descriptive-analytical method. The statistical population includes all residents of Shamshir village working in the tourism sector. In this study, simple random sampling available for research was used to obtain an ideal sample. And Cochran's modified formula (n = 121) was used to determine the sample size. The tool used in this research is a questionnaire developed by the researcher, whose validity was formally confirmed using experts' opinions. Its reliability was also confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for the experimental data analysis, and multigroup analysis (MGA) was used to investigate the heterogeneity of the socio-economic status of the villagers.

The results of structural equation modeling showed that among different factors, the human capital factor (β = 0.636, sig = 0.000) and financial capital (β = 0.255, sig = 0.000) have the greatest effect on the resilience of villagers.

Improving literacy levels and providing the necessary platform for earning extra income play a decisive role in improving the level of resilience of people active in the tourism sector. Thus, strengthening them should be on the agenda of policymakers and tourism development planners.

Although sports tourism helps the livelihood and well-being of tourist areas by providing economic opportunities, irresponsible tourism development can have many negative consequences for tourism purposes. Little attention has been paid to the sustainability of the sport, and it is necessary to be aware of the effects of this sector on sustainable development. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the sports tourism marketing and sustainable rural development.

The research method is qualitative content analysis. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 prominent sports management professors until reaching the Theoretical saturation. The constant comparison method was used for data analysis during open and axial coding stages.

Findings showed the main factors that hinder the improvement of sports tourism in Iran include political, legal, human resources, social-cultural, health, informational, and communication factors in the Sports tourism marketing and sustainable rural development of Iran.

Based on the obtained results, the sports tourism marketing and sustainable rural developmen in Iran also need to use sports capacities which include the environmental capacities of sports, sports entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurs. Applying the strategies of policy-making, management, planning, and marketing in infrastructures about religious and social participation and financial and support considerations can lead to the emergence of sustainable consequences for the livelihood of local communities.

This research aimed to assess rural livability using the Ecovillage model in selected villages of Lorestan province.

A sample of 55 villages in Lorestan was selected using spatial and cluster sampling methods. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) models. Indices were categorized into social, economic, physical, ecological, and information technology dimensions.

The TOPSIS model ranked Darband, Shahpourabad, and Horrabad-e Bala as the top three villages regarding rural livability.

The study indicates that the rural Ecovillage model in Lorestan does not meet desired criteria for livability.

The aim of the current research is the strategic planning of rural tourism with the participatory approach of the host community in the rural District Maydan of KHANAQIN in northeastern Iraq.

This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical regarding the Implementation method. The statistical population of the present study includes households in the target villages of District Maydan .
Therefore, according to the size of the villages and the time limit, cost, etc., Cochran's formula was used to determine the sample size of the residents of the tourist villages of District Maydan , and 153 people were concluded, and the sampling method was Simple non-random.

The findings obtained from the final evaluation of SWOT factors in the framework of the AHP model show that in the group of strengths, easy access to the Iranian market (PARVIZKHAN market and...) (Final weight, 0.315), the existence of historical and ancient monuments such as Sheikh JEBRAEEL (final weight, 0.274) and easy and suitable access for tourists (final weight, 0.163) were the most important strengths and lack of advertising, respectively, Information through ESHRAGH TV radio and television (final weight, 0.284), Lack of familiarity of local people in dealing with tourists (final weight, 0.195) and the unwillingness of local people to invest in the tourism sector (final weight, 0.158) were most important weaknesses, respectively.

Tourism is one of the economic and social activities of the current human societies. This activity is a response to humans' inner needs to relax, learn about cultures and benefit from natural and pristine beauty. One of the sub-branches of the tourism industry is rural tourism, which can play an important role in integrated and sustainable rural development due to the natural and cultural capacities in the villages. At the same time, the existence of tourist villages in the neighborhood of square villages and their complementary role (final weight, 0.184), lemon and orange orchards in the region (final weight, 0.155), and the great desire of Iranians to visit Iraq and KHANAQIN, and Kurdish areas (final weight, 0.123), respectively, among the most important opportunities in the studied area, as well as the increase in the cost of services and products compared to before (final weight, 0.349), the increase in garbage and waste by tourists (weight final weight, 0.216) and the high density of tourists and crowded District Maydan compared to other areas (final weight, 0.198) are among the most important threats of the studied area.

The present study aims to assess the COVID-19 pandemic on the second home economics in the tourism target villages of Zanjan in northwest Iran.

The current research is applied and descriptive-analytic, using a questionnaire for the understudied villages. The statistical population includes the tourism target villages of Zanjan province. Due to the limitation of time and cost, the spread of Coronavirus, etc., only one sample from each region was selected for a comprehensive study. Based on the Cochran formula (assuming p and q equal 0.5), 327 out of 2690 households of sample villages s were selected, and the questionnaire was r distributed using simple random sampling.. As some families were uncooperative with us due to the COVID-19 outbreak, 270 questionnaires were completed for the statistical analysis.

The results of the one-sample t-test demonstrated that the indicators of "influence on the sustainability of tourism activities" (2.11) and "influence on income ad its diversity in tourism sectors" (2.28), respectively, took the highest negative impacts from the spread of the COVID-19. The results of the retrospective analysis of the pre-and post-COVID-19 pandemic periods showed that the indicators of "influence on non-monetary indicators of household welfare" (-14.230), "job opportunities in tourism" (-14.202), and "income and its diversity in the tourism sector" (-14.143), respectively, indicates the biggest difference in the two understudied periods from the respondent's point of view. The results of the regression model demonstrated that, in total, the dimensions of tourism economy sustainability; and tourism sustainability had an overall impact of 0.428 and 0.417 on second homes based- tourism economy in the studied villages, respectively.

The results revealed that despite the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak on job opportunities, income, household welfare, and the sustainability of tourism activities, its positive effects on investment indicators, tourism infrastructure, and attracting capital investments outside the village, such as landscaping, improving access and communication, and creating parking and rest areas near attractions in addition to creating and developing second homes shouldn't be ignored.

The current research is to Evaluation the Rural Economic Development Emphasizing the role of Entrepreneurship in Chabahar.

This is an applied and descriptive-analytical study regarding objective and methodology, respectively. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire through field study. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22 and Expert Choice software. 

 The one sample T-test showed a favorable status of economic indicators in the studied villages. According to the Pearson correlation coefficient, there was a significant positive relationship between the economic development of the villages and entrepreneurship at a significant level of 0.99. Based on the analysis by Expert Choice software, strengthening the local economy with a weight of 0.301 showed the highest level of effectiveness from entrepreneurship in the villages of Chabahar.

 Rural entrepreneurship has a considerable effect on the economic development of rural regions through the recognition of market opportunities. Indeed, by recognizing the best strategies to use scarce resources to meet the needs of rural residents, rural entrepreneurship plays a significant role in the prosperity of the rural economy.