The Role of Religious Tourism in Economic Development of Rural Settlements (Case Study: Imamzadeh Seyed Mohammad Village of Nojah Mehr Jolfa city)

Today, the tourism industry plays an important role in the economies of countries. In the meantime, rural settlements are facing issues such as rural migrations, low income levels, increasing poverty, and so on. There are a number of rural settlements in the country in terms of location and attraction of tourists, especially religious tourism, which have a good potential for developing tourism activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of religious tourism in the economic development of rural settlements. This is a descriptive-analytical study using survey and library methods. The population of the study includes rural residents of Nojah Mehr rural area of Jolfa city according to the Census of 2016, with 55 population and 157 families. Cochran's formula was used in the study population and sample size was 220/22 for more accuracy of sample size 221. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine the quantitative reliability of the questionnaire. The alpha value for different parts of the questionnaire was 0.70 to 0.83. In order to obtain the residents' viewpoints about the mentioned components, statistical tests of mean responses and variance and one-sample T-test were used. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between religious tourism and economic components of research. Most of the study of the role of religious tourism in rural economic development is as follows: investment with average (22.74) had the most impact and employment with average (8.56) had the least impact on religious tourism. The results of the one-sample t-test showed that religious tourism was favorable and had a positive impact on the economic development of rural areas.