Evaluating the socio- cultural impact of tourism on the host community (case study: Baneh)

The presence of tourists at every country will influence the pattern of life, of the local people. Also, visitors will be affected by the culture and existing values of the host country. In this research, we studied the positive and negative effects of tourism development on the host community. This research was conducted by survey method and benefited of schedule interview (Baneh households). The sample size of this research was 369 (people) and it was done through Multi-stage cluster sampling method. Cronbach's alpha was 70 percent which showed relatively a high reliability. Regression analysis has been considered for the data analysis and hypotheses testing. Analysis of the data, shows that the most efficient factor in prediction of dependent variable "change in the host community", is cultural change. After that, conspicuous consumption and cultural adaption have the highest influence on the host community attitude change. Cultural Commodification has lower effect on changing the host community attitude comparing to other indicators.