An Evaluation of the Effects of Tourism Development on the Happiness Level of Residents: A Case Study in Kashan

Tourism has turned into one of the most significant and influential industries in the world economy. In addition to its effects on the macroeconomic environment, this industry through its development has had variety of positive and negative effects, one of which is concerned with citizens’ levels of happiness. The purpose of the current research is to evaluate tourism development and its effects on the happiness level of residents in the city of Kashan. The research method is descriptive-analytical. One-sample T-test and a structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data of the questionnaire. The results, obtained from the one-sample T-test, showed the significance of macroeconomic indicators, cultural dimension, social dimension, economic-social dimension, environmental dimension, and the quality of life on the happiness levels of the residents of Kashan. The results of a structural equation modeling displayed that among the measured indicators the social-economic index has the highest factor loading with a weight of 0.91. The cultural and environmental factors are ranked second with the same factor loadings of 0.86. The factors such as macroeconomics, the social dimension, the quality of life, and happiness index are ranked next with factor loadings of 0.71, 0.58, 0.84, and 0.63 respectively. After a more detailed analysis of the indicators, the creation of job and the earning of income, among positive effects of tourism, have led to the well-being and happiness of residents as well as the improvement of their appearance and authenticity.