Study of the Impacts of Tourism on Rural Development Case Study: Ghoori-Ghale Village

Introduction Tourism can be a tool for rural development; because it can be considered as a new financial resource, it can improve the economic status of local people and it can be considered as a resource that removes poverty and creates more jobs. Tourism and rural development are also two interrelated factors which have positive impacts on each other when tourism development or rural development take place. As a region that is one of the top fifty tourist attractions in Kermanshah Province, Ghoori-Ghale village is one of the most important destinations of tourists to the west of the country; annually, this region receives thousands of tourists from other parts of the country and from neighboring countries especially Iraqi tourists. Studies show that the number of tourists in this village increased considerably during the past years; so that the number of visitors has increased from 116000 people in 1381 to 418000 people in 1386 and more than 500000 people in 1391. More than natural attractions of the village and cultural values in Ghoori-Ghale, the most important tourist attraction in Ravansar County is Ghoori-Ghale Cave as a natural phenomenon and it is the second tourist attraction of the Oramanat region. Construction of more than 30 shops and stores and full-time employment of more than 30 individuals around the cave, is just one of the advantages of Ghoori-Ghale Cave for inhabitants of Ghoori-Ghale village. Base on this, some questions are raised including that "which indicators of rural development have been mostly effected by tourists' arrivals?", "at what level are the impacts of tourism on rural development of Ghoori-Ghale?" and "how many factors are defined as the impacts of tourism in rural development of Ghoori-Ghale village and what are the important ones?" Methodology: This study is practical one which used analytical-descriptive researches method. For data collection documentary method and field study are used. The study population includes all heads of householder in Ghoori-Ghale village (240 people). Because of limitation of population and their availability, the sample study was chosen by complete enumeration method. The basic research tool was self-constructed questionnaire in which, after necessary modification, its validity was confirmed by university professors and other tourism experts. To examine the reliability of the constructed questionnaire, a guide study was performed out of the studied region with 30 questionnaires. Cronbach's Alfa Coefficient was obtained by using SPSS, version 0.861 and it showed the high level of reliability in using of research tool. The five-point Likert scale has been the indicators' scale for this case (very little: point 1, little: point 2, average: point 3, great: point 4, very great: point 5) and for statistical analysis descriptive statistics (average, standard deviation and coefficient of variables) and one sample T-test have been used and also for recognizing the impacts of tourists' arrivals on inhabitants of Ghoori Ghale, regarding some limited and important factors, factor analysis technique has been applied. Discussion and Conclusion: Because of profitability and high level of job creation for host communities, today, rural tourism can be considered as one of the most important tools for developing and following that for sustainable development of rural inhabitants especially in regions with high potential in attracting tourist. This study findings showed that most of rural inhabitants in the studied area are completely satisfied with tourists' arrival and they are ready to attract more tourists. Moreover, the results showed that tourists' arrival to Ghoori Ghale village mostly have impact on many indicators including development of employment, increase of inhabitants' income, diversity of economic activities, constructing or developing local markets, infrastructure development, increase of land value and housing, increase of purchase power and improvement of living status, decrease of rural immigration and return of immigrants to the village, increase of the constructions and diversification of domestic products. The results of studying the overall level of the impacts of tourism showed that most respondents believe that tourism has considerable impacts (average of 3.4) on development of Ghoori Ghale village. The results showed that the impacts of tourism on inhabitants of Ghori Ghale village are summarized in six main factors which on the whole, determined 82.6% of total variance of impacts of tourism regarding the target village. The recognized factors in order of their importance are as follow: economic factor, infrastructurephysical factor, social-cultural factor, health-environmental factor, involvement factor and safety factor. Regarding the high potentiality of Ghoori Ghale village and other neighboring villages, by proper management and villagers' participation, it is possible to create a tourism hub in the region in which Ghoori Ghale village is the central part and consequently, this matter can be a good prospective for development of neighboring villages to Ghoori Ghale.