Comparative study of tourist destinations in Ardabil and East Azerbaijan provinces based on tourism life cycle indicators

Ardabil and East Azarbaijan provinces are among the provinces where a significant part of their population and economy are mixed with villages and villagers, and from this point of view, there are many similarities between their historical, socio-cultural, economic and environmental aspects. The rural areas of these provinces, despite their very high natural, economic, social and cultural capabilities, face widespread deprivation, cultural poverty and rural emigration. Meanwhile, the tourism sector has the necessary potential capacities for rural revitalization in the investigated provinces. It is worth pondering that the planning system governing tourism activities in these provinces lacks a specific approach. For this reason, the main problem of the upcoming research is to identify the place of rural tourism in the target villages of tourism in Ardabil and East Azarbaijan provinces in the life cycle of tourism and develop a suitable methodology for planning their development. The present research has been conducted as a comparative study and in a descriptive-analytical method. The area studied in this research includes the villages of Zenuzagh, Kandavan and Ashtabin in East Azarbaijan province and the villages of Gazaj, Alvars and Oonar in Ardabil province. To determine the sample size, Cochran was used first and the size of the sample population is estimated to be 175 households. The method of selecting data from the local community is systematic random and from tourists randomly.According to the results obtained from this model, the studied villages are in different stages of sustainability. The available information shows that the villages of the study area are at the average sustainability level from the point of view of tourism, and the ecosystem welfare index and the human welfare index are also at an average level.