Journal of the Geographical Studies of Mountainous Areas

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Haghi M, Heidarzade E. An Analysis of the Factors of Realizing Sustainable Tourism in Mountainous Cities (Case Study: Khansar City). JGSMA 2021; 2 (2) :91-108
URL: http://gsma.lu.ac.ir/article-1-155-en.html

Tourism prosperity in a city or region is like walking on a blade's edge, because tourism, in addition to its benefits, can also have negative consequences. Therefore, the tourism situation of a city can be evaluated as successful only if it does not harm the stability of the region and the host community while satisfying the tourists. Therefore, the present study tries to identify the factors of sustainable tourism in mountainous cities by extracting and analyzing tourists' opinions. The research method is descriptive-analytical and based on documentary studies and field survey. Subject variables have been collected from valid internal and external sources and they have been used to compile questionnaire questions. The target population is tourists visiting the city of Khansar in April 2021. According to the number of variables in question, which was 34, the sample size of 170 people was selected, which is 5 times the number of variables (which ratio is suitable for the factor analysis model). Therefore, after examining the validity and reliability of the questions, the data extracted from the questionnaires were entered into SPSS software and analyzed using the Exploratory factor analysis model. Findings show that sustainable tourism factors in cities in mountainous areas include "Urban Services", "Basic Needs", "Recreational Attractions", "Culture of the Host Community", "Economic", "Natural Ecosystem", "Cultural Attractions" and "Sustainability". Also, in the case of Khansar city, the greatest weakness is manifested in the two factors of "Sustainability" and "Basic Needs", based on which, strategies have been proposed to respond to these weaknesses.