ABSTRACT

Introduction: Villages and villagers have a special place in the dynamics of the country's economy by contributing to economic growth, controlling the inflation rate and increasing the employment rate. In fact, rural development is one of the main prerequisites in the development of any country. Meanwhile, rural development has faced many challenges in the last few decades and is going through a downward trend in development. In this regard, tourism is one of the fields that has great potential for rural development.

Objectives: The main purpose of this research is to investigate the role of tourist accommodation development on three main indicators, i.e. creating job opportunities, increasing income and developing entrepreneurship of the villagers in the central area of Guilan province.

Methodology: In this regard, descriptive-analytical method was chosen. In the following, the questionnaire method was used to collect information. SPSS software and statistical tests were also used for data analysis.

Geographical Context: The geographical area of this research is the tourist residences of the villages in the central area of Guilan.

Results: The results of the t-test showed that the development of tourist accommodations in the studied area has a higher than average effect on all three research indicators, i.e., increasing the income of villages, creating job opportunities, and developing entrepreneurship. Also, the comparison of the average scores showed that the index of increasing the income of the villages with an average score of 3.897 has the greatest impact on tourist accommodations. The index of creating job opportunities and developing entrepreneurship also ranked second and third with average scores of 3.869 and 3.533 respectively.

Conclusion: The results indicate that with the development of tourist accommodations, which are a major aspect of the tourism industry, it is possible to take steps towards the economic development of the rural community.