Investigating the Relationship between Strategic Management and Rural Tourism Development (A Case Study of Central Part of Sirik)

Today, rural tourism has become one of the most important economic sectors in many countries of the world, and governments have implemented various policies to develop it at various scales, from local to national level. In the past decades, especially since the 1990s, due to the recession in the agricultural sector and the problems facing rural communities, experts and planners have always emphasized the importance of rural tourism development. In this regard, the city of Sirik with its many attractions in rural areas can use this huge potential to improve its economic situation. For this purpose, in the present article, using qualitative steps with SWOT technique, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the development of tourism in this city were determined. Using the SPSS software and calculating the correlation coefficient, the relationship between strategic management and tourism development was obtained. The results showed that the strengths and opportunities of this region outweighed its weaknesses and threats, which by using an offensive strategy, we can hope for the development of tourism in the region. Also, the results of correlation coefficient showed that there is a significant relationship between strategic management and tourism development with a correlation coefficient of 0.67.