Assessing the sustainability of rural tourism destinations from the perspective of the local community; The case study of Neyshabur county

 
Taking a step in the path of sustainable development of rural tourism requires a comprehensive understanding and understanding of the state and degree of tourism sustainability. The development of tourism activities in different geographical areas, especially in rural areas, is doomed to failure, regardless of sustainability concepts and issues, because the development of tourism only in villages does not lead anywhere and the future of rural tourism activities and fields faces challenges and obstacles. If rural tourism is properly planned and managed with a sustainable approach, it may be the creator or driver of a development process in rural areas as well as the sustainability of local communities in all economic, social, cultural sub-branches as well as tourism activity. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a scientific and accurate assessment of the sustainability situation in different dimensions, taking into account the sustainable tourism development approach. The best known tool for measuring the level of sustainability is the sustainability barometer; because this model is a useful tool in creating awareness of the sustainability of tourism and shows the planners and policy makers the direction of changes and the tolerance capacity of the tourist destinations. Therefore, the present study evaluates the sustainability of tourism in villages with potential in Neyshabur County using the barometer model.
 
Methodology:
The descriptive-analytical research method has an applied purpose, and it is cross-sectional in terms of time. Information was collected using documentary and field methods. In this study, 13 villages of the city's tourism destination were identified and studied. The unit of analysis is 189 people from rural households who were randomly selected and participated in quantifying the sustainability of rural tourism under three dimensions with 40 indicators including environmental sustainability (16 variables), social (9 variables), economic (15 variables) dimensions. In the analysis of data in order to check the sustainability of rural tourism dimensions from the One Sample T- test, investigating the linear relationship between sustainability dimensions from Pearson's correlation coefficient, Non-statistical methods such as sustainability barometer and VIKOR were used to measure tourism sustainability and rank villages in terms of sustainability.
 
Findings:
According to the results, the average dimensions of rural tourism sustainability are significantly lower than the theoretical average (3). So that the average sustainability of rural tourism is 2.68. The average sustainability in the social dimension is 2.1 less than the sustainability in the economic dimension 2.25 and environmental 2.45. There is a significant relationship between the dimensions of sustainability of tourism. So that the relationship between ecological sustainability and social sustainability with moderate intensity of the direct incomplete type with 0.49, economic sustainability with social index with moderate intensity of the direct incomplete type with 0.43, environmental sustainability with direct economic sustainability with strong intensity and to The rate is 0.89. The state of sustainability of tourism development in the studied villages shows that the total sustainability score based on people's point of view is 0.26 and is relatively unstable And there is a significant difference between the studied villages in terms of tourism sustainability And in the environmental and social aspect, 92.31% of villages are in relatively unstable condition and 7.7% of villages are in unstable condition. Based on the results obtained from Vikor method, the lowest numerical value of Q is related to the villages of Dizbad Bala and Buzhan, which shows that sustainability indicators in these villages are more favorable than other villages. Considering that the highest numerical value of Q is related to the village of Qaleh Shisheh, it is the most unsuitable village in terms of sustainability.
 
Discussion and Conclusion:
The results of tourism sustainability based on the barometer method showed that the natural ecosystem welfare score is 0.26 and human welfare is 0.26. This shows that from the point of view of the local people, the sustainability of the human welfare system and ecosystem welfare is low, and tourism development in the studied villages is at a relatively unstable level. In fact, from the point of view of local people, the degree of stability of the system is low, and the development of tourism in the villages of the city's tourism destinations is relatively unstable. Despite the existence of instability in various dimensions in tourism destination villages, laws, policies and programs are being carried out without paying attention to the sustainability category. Therefore, in order to minimize the negative effects of tourism development in specific destinations and maximize positive goals, it is necessary to create a balance between the needs of visitors, tourism industry, environment and local communities.