Investigating the Relationship between People's Participation and Tourism Development (Case study: Tabriz Metropolis)

The development of urban tourism has been considered by tourism planners and city managers due to its various economic, social, cultural and environmental effects. Following the growth of urbanization, cities are becoming one of the main pillars of the world's commercial economy.

In this regard, the role of public participation in the development and improvement of urban tourism should be considered. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between people's participation in tourism development in Tabriz. The present research is an applied descriptive-survey method based on a questionnaire. The statistical population of the citizens of Tabriz is considered. The sample size was determined according to Cochran's formula of 384 people and was performed by available random sampling method.

The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the two variables of economic participation and tourism development and with a correlation value of 0.632 and close to 1, it has a high correlation compared to other variables. Also, there is a positive and significant relationship between the two variables of environmental participation and tourism development and with a correlation value of 0.288, it was found that these two variables have a low correlation with each other. On the other hand, there is a negative relationship between the two variables of socio-cultural participation and tourism development and with a correlation value of 0.102, it was found that these two variables have a low correlation with each other.

As a result, economic participation has a more important role in the development of tourism in Tabriz compared to environmental participation and socio-cultural participation. Thus, providing a recognition of the priority levels of participation of the host community in tourism development is a research innovation compared to other studies.