Strategies for Organization and Development of Tourism Function in Rural Areas Case Study: Villages of Qom Province, Iran

Regarding its appeals and capacities, tourism function of rural areas in Qom province has not adequately played an effective role in advancing rural sustainable development. Therefore, the current research attempts at identifying and preparing organization and development strategies for tourism function in rural areas of Qom province. Research method is descriptive-analytical and it is applied in terms of its content. The present study aims at searching for organization and development strategies and approaches for tourism function in rural areas of Qom province with special emphasis on existent potentials and restrictions. For so doing, using SWOT technique, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to tourism function of rural areas in Qom province have been investigated. Findings indicate that 12 internal strengths and 12 internal weaknesses as well as 10 external opportunities and 9 external threats influence greatly on tourism function of rural areas. In the research presented here, research sample consists of 145 managers and experts of Qom province. Then, their ideas are received and recorded. After that, using one sample t-test, the influence of those two environments on organization and development of rural regions’ tourism function is analyzed. Results obtained from findings analysis reveal that both components of external environment and internal environment do greatly influence on organization and development of tourism function. Compatible with analysis content, efficient strategies are derived and ranked. Ultimately, WO strategies are considered as first priority for planning and SO strategies as second one.