Analyzing the Motivation Factors in Support of Tourism Development: The Case of Rural Communities in Kurdistan Region of Iran

Purpose: Not all groups in a rural community are expected to be homogeneous in their attitudes towards tourism development. For example, gender is a fundamental means to understand such differences. This paper examined the gender differences in support of rural tourism development. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Oraman County, one of the most attractive places for tourism in Iran, is taken as a study area to verify gender differences toward tourism development. Using a snow-ball sampling method, 134 people agreed to participate in the study. The study data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. All the study variables used continuum scales. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS and AMOS. Results: The results revealed that men were more motivated than women to support and engage in tourism development activities in their communities. The result of a discriminant analysis revealed that such factors as “contribution of tourism to the community” and “desire for diversification” made a statistically significant contribution to the discriminant function. In other words, these factors contributed to a statistically significant separation between genders of the respondents. In addition to gender, the respondent’s number of dependent children, education, and the dependency of their job on tourism made a statistically significant contribution to the discriminant function of motivation to participate in tourism activities. Conclusion: On the whole, the constructs used by McGehee et al. (2007) (replicated in this study) have the potential for assessing motivation to participate in tourism activities. However, gender comparisons on motivation revealed significant mean differences between males and females.