An Analysis of Socio-cultural Impacts of Tourism Development (The Case of Birjand City)

Tourism development impacts on communities are generally categorized into three main subdivisions of economic, socio-cultural and environmental. The present paper brings the socio-cultural impacts into discussion with the case study of Birjand city, Iran. The data collected by self-reported questionnaires are analyzed using one-sample T-test. According to the results, tourism development in the city brings about both negative and positive socio-cultural impacts. Among the strategies to control and reduce the negative impacts are attracting more local people to involve in tourism activities, training local people for effective communications with tourists, and providing tourists with more information regarding the city and its community.