Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Humanities Sciences, Bozorgmehr University of Qaenat, South Khorasan, Qaen, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism Management and Economics, Faculty of Tourism, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
3 M.A., Geography and Tourism Planning, Department of Human Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Agricultural tourism is considered one of the strategies for the development of rural areas. In this regard, the purpose of this research is to identify the factors affecting the development of agricultural tourism. The current research is of an applied type in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature and method. Data collection has been done through the field method and a structured questionnaire. The statistical population of the research includes rural tourists in the study area. Meanwhile, sampling has been done by the simple random method. Also, according to Cochran's method, the number of the statistical sample is equal to 148 people. In order to ensure the validity of the research questionnaire, content validity, factor loading coefficient, combined reliability, and also Cronbach's alpha method were used to check reliability. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS software and the structural equation modeling technique in Smartpls software. The results indicate that despite the high importance of socio-cultural, economic, facilities and services, environmental, and institutional components in the rural areas of Saman county, the quality of the mentioned factors was lower than average. Meanwhile, the institutional component has more unfavorable conditions than other components, which is caused by the existence of serious weaknesses in factors such as incentive plans, government participation and support, support systems, laws, and regulations, specifically in the field of agricultural tourism. Therefore, according to the factors affecting the development of agricultural tourism in rural areas, necessary measures to improve the situation of this type of tourism should be put on the agenda of the authorities.
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