Document Type : Research-Case Study
Authors
1 Postdoctoral graduate, Andish Bonyan Fanavar Verna Knowledge-based company, Guilan Science & Technology Park, Rasht, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Tourism Research Center, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Rasht, Iran
Abstract
Rural tourism is a key activity for the development of villages, which contributes to economic growth, diversity of activities, job creation, and increases the income of rural residents. Among the factors contributing to the development of rural tourism is the efficient use of marketing techniques, especially E-marketing. The goal of this research is to investigate the role of electronic marketing in the development of rural tourism in the villages in the vicinity of Rasht metropolis. In this applied research, a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) method has been employed. The statistical population in the qualitative part consists of the people active in the field of E-marketing, 36 of whom were selected by snowball sampling. The statistical population in the quantitative section covered all the tourists who had visited the study area. Given the large number of tourists and unavailability of exact statistics, and considering the condition of sufficient sample size for factor analysis, n=200 people were selected by judgmental (targeted) sampling method. The inclusion criteria for tourists were their familiarity and use of E-marketing. The data collection method in the qualitative part was an interview, and a researcher-made questionnaire in the quantitative part, which was derived from the indicators of the qualitative stage. For data analysis in the qualitative part, the open coding method was used. Accordingly, 40 items were identified. In the quantitative part, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were utilized in SPSS and LISREL software. According to the research findings, factor analysis generated seven factors, which had an effect on the development of tourism in the villages in the periphery of Rasht. These factors, in order of importance, include price, planning and management, advertising, people, product, evidence and physical facilities and location.
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