Journal of Geographical Studies of Mountainous Areas

Journal of Geographical Studies of Mountainous Areas

The development of small tourism businesses as an economic opportunity for rural areas (Case of study: Northern Sarroud rural district, Boyer Ahmad County)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Department of Agriculture Economic, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Department of Economic Sciences, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction

Tourism is one of the most important and effective economic issues and one of the prominent communication, social and cultural factors in the world, and it is an activity that has many capabilities to create new businesses and can help in the development of employment and entrepreneurship. In the meantime, the importance of entrepreneurship and the creation of small tourism businesses and its effects on the economic growth and development of rural areas, human resource empowerment, job creation, the establishment and development of social justice, a wide and active presence in global markets, Poverty alleviation and increase in life expectancy is undeniable.
northern Sarroud rural district, Boyer Ahmad County are among the areas that have the potential and diverse weather conditions to attract domestic and foreign tourists, And many businesses have been created in line with it by the host community, but it still has not been able to lead to the growth and economy of rural areas and become based on income generation. The existence of tourist attractions in the historical, cultural and natural fields of the villages of this village and the prosperity of the established businesses can be the areas of economic growth and development of various economic sectors, provide environmental, social, etc. in the villages of this city and become an important tourism hub in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province and at the macro and national level.
At the same time, the available statistics fully reveal the weakness of the economic foundation of rural communities. Therefore, in the current research, an attempt has been made to identify the key factors and main drivers involved in the prosperity of tourism micro-businesses, and investigate the direct and indirect effects of each of the factors in the rural economy of the northern Sarroud rural district, Boyer Ahmad County.
Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of the development of small tourism businesses as an economic opportunity for rural areas of North Sarroud rural district, Boyar Ahmad County.
 

Methodology

The research method is applied and qualitative-quantitative. In order to analyze the data, grounded theory and software (SPSS) was used. The statistical population in the current research consists of two parts: the first part: experts and elites in the field of tourism and rural planning, therefore, based on targeted sampling, 30 people were selected as the sample population. The second part includes managers and village experts (members of the council and Village manager) who were determined based on the available sampling of 57 people.

Results

From the results of the interviews, from the grounded theory method, categories (bank credits and financial support, informing and training entrepreneurs in the field of business, political and legal, marketing, paying attention to the sustainability approach in creating tourism businesses and interaction between organizations and tourism entrepreneurs as effective factors in the prosperity of small tourism businesses in villages) were extracted. Then, based on the Pearson correlation test, there is a significant and positive relationship between two variables (small business boom) and economic opportunity in rural areas at a significance level of 0.001. Also, according to the results of path analysis, it showed that (sustainability approach in creating tourism businesses with the highest value of 0.178 and political, legal and marketing factors with the lowest value of 0.151) included the overall effect.4.

Discussion

Despite the development of the tourism industry in the country's villages, and as a result, the creation of small businesses in the villages of Sarroud has not prospered as much as it should A major part of the underdevelopment of businesses is caused by the centralized structure of the government in tourism plans and its businesses. Therefore, many businesses depend on the authority of the decision-making power in the center and the political authority governs it, and they are ignored or shut down against any changes in the managers and the new government. On the other hand, the existence of cumbersome laws is always a very big problem on the way to the prosperity of small businesses, according to the opinion of many interviewees; Every once in a while, tourism entrepreneurs face a new law, laws that do not support this type of business and are like a big stone in front of entrepreneurs. The multitude of laws along with bureaucracy and administrative formalities still take time for entrepreneurs and they worry about these things instead of developing their businesses. On the other hand, strengthening the banking system and government financial and monetary institutions by providing banking facilities with special conditions, reducing bank fees and interest on a temporary and short-term basis can be a strong point for entrepreneurs in the field of tourism, In this regard, it is necessary to adopt cooperation between the tourism heritage organization and operating banks for credits related to tourism businesses, and the appropriateness of the amount of credit loan with the business should also be taken into account.
 

Conclusion

In a final summary, it can be concluded that the mentioned factors can create new jobs in the rural society and reduce the ominous phenomenon of unemployment and cause prosperity and economic prosperity.
Keywords

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