The Role of Transportation in Promoting Economic Competitiveness of Rural Tourism Destinations (Case Study: Tourism Target Villages of Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad Province)

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of rural transportation in the economic competitiveness of rural tourism destinations in Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad Province. The type of research is applied and its nature is descriptive-analytical based on data collection using field methods such as completing a questionnaire among households. The statistical population of the study is the permanent residents in the tourism target villages of Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad Province. The number of villages targeted for tourism in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad Province is 12 cases, of which 9 villages have a permanent population, and due to the small number of them, the counting method has been used. At the household analysis level, 297 households were selected as a sample from 1312 resident households using Cochran's formula. One-sample t-test, correlation, structural equations and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were used to analyze the data. The results of correlation analysis show that there is a significant relationship between the competitiveness of tourist destinations and transportation indices with the correlation coefficient of 0.331. Also, based on the results of structural equations, the most effects of transportation are on the component of diversification of employment and income opportunities with a coefficient of 0.521.