Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF TOURISM IN THEDEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN RURAL AREAS(CASE STUDY: VILLAGES IN CENTRAL DISTRICT OF RASHT), IRAN

MasoumeBloki Asli1, MohammadaliAhmadian and Hamid Jafari

Abstract

Rehabilitation and promotion of the backward economic sectors happen in a society if self-employmentopportunities are provided to the public. Thus, rural tourism is of the relatively new areas in ruraldevelopment able to provide opportunities and facilities, especially for rural employment and income andplay an effective role in the rehabilitation and renovation of rural areas. In this regard, one of the strategiesrecently taken into account in most countries of the world is attention to and emphasis on tourism in ruralareas with the necessary potential and infrastructure for tourism development. The purpose of this studywas to recognize the existing tourism platforms and the employment created accordingly. The study areawas in the central part of Rasht where six villages called Imamzadeh Hashem, Katigar, Saqalaksar, AmirBekandeh, Hajji Bekandeh, and ChaparPord with more tourist attractions than other villages in terms ofcultural heritage were selected. The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.85 using Cronbach’s alphas test,showing a high degree of reliability and compatibility of the type of questions with the purpose of thestudy. Conclusion was through SPSS that showed the existence and diversity of the attractions. The studyshowed that the lowest mean was 2.43 and related to entrepreneurial incentive structure in the villages,meaning low and very low; and the highest mean was for the entrepreneurial behavior of the villagers 3.39.However, despite tourist capabilities of these villages in terms of sights and attractions, the development of tourism in these areas, as in many other areas of Iran, depends on the removal of some constraints.