Ebrahim Fathinia, Alireza Darbanastaneh, Jahangir Yadallahi Farsi, Seyed Hosein Shahed,
Volume 13, Issue 50 (12-2024)
Objective: This study aims to identify tourism patterns in the development of rural businesses in Hamadan County and propose an optimal model for the role of tourism in fostering rural economic activities.
Methods: This research is applied in nature and follows a field-based, survey-oriented, and descriptive approach. Data were collected using both field studies and library research methods. The study examines 40 tourism experts across 40 villages, 440 rural households, categorized into three groups: experts, local residents, and business owners.
Findings: Tourism-related businesses in the study area lack balanced geographical distribution, though some business indicators have improved over time. Factor analysis identified five key factors influencing rural business development:
- Social Factors (26.77% variance explained)
- Tourism Factors (17.95%)
- Managerial-Communication Factors (16.73%)
- Economic Factors (16.16%)
- Physical-Environmental Factors (7.21%)
Regression analysis showed that the model explains 92% of the variation, with 14 significant indicators. The most influential factors based on Beta coefficients were physical infrastructure, economic investment, and capital investment.
Conclusions: The results showed that the components of economic participation, investment, and physical activity are the best components and variables for predicting the dependent variable. Another result of the research indicated that the sales situation is in an unfavorable state and tourism businesses in general do not have a proper geographical distribution and are mainly located in the southwestern part of the region.
