Identifying and Explaining the Driving and Inhibiting Factors in Development of Rural Tourism from the Experts' Point of View

Nowadays, tourism is one of the important sources of income and one of the effective factors in development and progress in countries. In this connection, rural tourism is of special importance as one of the main types of tourism. Therefore, knowing the obstacles and driving factors of this type of tourism is of special necessity. The current research has been done with the aim of identifying and explaining the factors driving and inhibiting the development of rural tourism from the perspective of experts, who have investigated the issue using a mixed method. The sequential research approach is an exploratory one that is carried out in two qualitative and quantitative phases. In the qualitative phase, using the scoping review method, the main variables and indicators were identified, and then in the quantitative phase, they were analyzed and investigated using the survey method and the questionnaire tool. According to the findings of the qualitative phase, 4 criteria and 43 sub-criteria were identified among 53 related researches. In the quantitative phase, specialists and experts in the field of tourism and rural planning commented on the approval and prioritization of each factor, and all the factors were approved in their opinion. The present study showed that various aspects promoting or hindering the development of rural tourism, including social, economic and environmental aspects of tourism development in Nir city, are considered with acceptable amounts. Therefore, the concept of rural tourism development should be effectively implemented throughout the region and existing gaps to support rural tourism development should be addressed.