The Effects of Religious Tourism on Improvement of Rural Life Quality (Case Study: Rural Areas of Mashhad)

From a social perspective, acceptance of religious tourists by villagers can affect the interaction between people and also the livability. The present study evaluates the impact of religious tourism on improvement of life quality among rural areas of city of Mashhad. Present work was an applied research and was carried out by using descriptive-analytic methods. The statistical population in this study was chosen among villages which had saint tombs all around the city of Mashhad. The sample size was calculated as 196 tourists by using Cochran formula, and the host population size was determined as 185 people. In this research, the analysis unit was "village", and data obtained from questionnaires were assessed by using two statistical analysis software SPSS and LISREL. Findings showed that among the surveyed villages Mayami and Hesar had the highest average (Research indices) and Khajeh Hoseinabad recorded the lowest score. Also, regarding to the normality of the research indicators LISREL software was used to assess the effect of religious tourism on the quality of life. These results showed that there is a significant relationship between religious tourism and life quality, and the final LISREL model revealed that religious tourism is most effective on physical and social same as economic and environmental dimensions, respectively. So for the development of religious tourism the following is suggested:Coordination of local institutions and executive agencies, increase in the quantity and quality of facilities of saint tombs and villages, and paying more attention accompanying appropriate monitoring service.