Introduction

Rural people have very little access to social services such as education and health, but at the same time they have poor economic conditions. The basis of identifying the limitations of poverty reduction and livelihood development is the elimination of decision-making by the villagers regarding their goals to improve the quality of life and also how to achieve these goals. Paying attention to the living conditions of rural households is one of the main ways to prevent the increase in poverty among villagers. Since tourism has always been considered as a potential tool for economic development due to the reduction of agricultural activities and the income of villagers. The economic benefits of tourism can be in the form of economic diversification, creation of local employment, as well as the sale of services and goods that are considered tools for poverty alleviation. Tourism is an agent of change and an important economic development option with the potential to reduce the gap between the poor and the wealthy in society, it is one of the most important phenomena affecting society, and this has greatly increased with the presence of information technology. The tourism industry is a super user of information technology. Some of the largest telecommunication networks around the world store and transmit travel information; therefore, information technology is the main foundation of information and facilitates tourism. The development of electronic tourism (based on information technology) along with rural tourism in its traditional form can be considered as one of the main approaches to improve sustainable rural livelihoods and ultimately strengthen the achievement of economic, social and environmental goals of sustainable rural development. Therefore, in the current research, an effort is made to identify and analyze the effective factors in the stabilization of rural livelihoods based on e-tourism in the rural area of Rudbar city, in order to strengthen the livelihood foundations and, as a result, to stabilize the livelihoods of the villagers of this city.
 

Methodology

The current research, in terms of its purpose, is fundamental and applied and has an interpretive-analytical nature, and in terms of method, it is included in the category of combined (qualitative-quantitative) research. Sampling has been done in a purposeful (judgmental) way and their selection continued until the theoretical saturation stage (37 people). In this way, in order to collect information according to the topic of the research, the selection of participants was started based on the age group and in a targeted manner, for this purpose, the selected people were chosen from the age group of 30 to 60 years. The interviewees were selected in two groups, experts and experts in the field of tourism and e-tourism, and the final beneficiaries were selected by purposeful (judgmental) sampling method. The sample population in the present study in two qualitative sections included: the group of beneficiaries with the participation of 23 people and residents of rural areas (having at least a bachelor's degree), villagers and members of the Islamic Council of villages. And in the quantitative part, it includes: a group of experts with the participation of 14 people, which included experts from tourism organizations, researchers, and university professors. In the data analysis stage, in the qualitative part using the grounded theory method and in the quantitative part using the EDAS and FBWM models, the obtained categories and semantic units were ranked based on their importance.
 

Results

The results of the conceptualization of the data obtained from the research (open coding) including 46 conceptual codes were extracted from the interview texts in line with the effective factors in the success of sustainable rural livelihood based on e-tourism. The results of open coding were presented based on secondary code, conceptual codes and categories. Based on the results, a number of 18 semantic units including: 1- creating a space for online discussion and exchange of opinions, 2- increasing participation, 3- prioritizing infrastructures, etc., were extracted. After analyzing the obtained semantic units, the main categories and themes including: broad participation, increasing sustainability, eliminating the digital divide, informing and educating stakeholders, improving the quantity and quality of infrastructure and structured public-private management were extracted from the semantic units. In order to rank and reveal the importance of each of the semantic units, the FBMW model was used, and the EDAS model was used to rank and the importance of each of the categories. Based on the results obtained among the extracted categories, the category of public-private structured management with a final weight of 0.95 has been assigned the highest rank and the highest priority, the category of cooperative action with a weight of 0.078 is in the second place in terms of prioritization. And the category of improving the quantity and quality of infrastructure with a weight of 0.057 has been placed in the third place, the category of increasing sustainability with a weight of 0.043, the category of eliminating the digital divide with a weight of 0.039 and the category of broad participation with a weight of 0.022 0/0 are ranked fourth to sixth respectively.

Discussion

According to the obtained results, there is a need to identify and present effective factors in the stabilization of livelihood based on electronic tourism. Because moving towards the development of e-tourism in a correct and logical way requires identifying the different dimensions and angles of the two categories of sustainable livelihood and e-tourism. In total, according to the obtained results, six categories (broad participation, increasing sustainability, eliminating the digital divide, informing and educating stakeholders, improving the quantity and quality of infrastructure and structured public-private management) as effective factors in sustainable rural livelihoods based on e-tourism The rural district of Rudbar city was determined.
 

Conclusion

In general, according to what has been said, it can be acknowledged that in order to implement e-tourism in the rural area of Rudbar city and to improve the effective components in the development of e-tourism, there is a need for short-term, medium-term and long-term plans and programs. In other words, the road map for the development of e-tourism in Gilan province and specifically in Rudbar city should be prepared based on written and executive plans and should be implemented under the supervision of relevant institutions as well as with the support of the local community. The result of such measures is the increase of livelihood capital in rural areas and the realization of sustainable livelihood in rural areas.