Abstract
The development of small businesses in rural areas as a key strategy for sustaining the population and improving the quality of life of villagers has always been a concern for many developed and developing countries. Some rural areas provide their villagers with favorable conditions for the development of businesses in order to enjoy the potential in the field of tourism. Sustainable development in these areas can be achieved with systematic attention and planning. In the present work, the spatial analysis of the distribution of small businesses in the eastern parts of Gilan Province was studied with an emphasis on tourism in mountainous regions. The study population consisted of all villages in the east part of Gilan Province, and the sample included all businesses officially supported by the Omid Entrepreneurship Fund. The research method was a descriptive analytic in which GIS software and the G statistic were used for the analysis of spatial correlation, clustering, hot and cold spots analysis and buffer zones. Finally, the results of the study showed that the spatial distribution of businesses in different economic sectors (agriculture, industry, services and tourism) were different between 2011 and 2016 in the way the cluster pattern was formed in agricultural and service activities. A cluster pattern cannot be considered in the tourism and industrial activities, but there is a random (point) pattern; in this regard, the results indicate the importance of the factor of distance between the village and the city center in the distribution of tourism businesses. In addition, the highest levels of support for businesses were in the agricultural and services sectors, while the lowest support was in industry and tourism. Finally, the results showed that the distribution of businesses in all activities was much higher in the plains and valleys as compared to the mountainous and hill areas.
Highlights
Over the past twenty years, tourism has expanded and been recognized as the largest industry in the world [1]
Rural tourism enables privately run, small businesses to emerge as an economic development engine
In Finland, 90 percent of the tourism businesses have been classified as micro and small businesses [28], so experience shows that the implementation of sustainability plans has encountered problems, especially problems for small businesses, which were dominated by sectors such as tourism [29]
Summary
Over the past twenty years, tourism has expanded and been recognized as the largest industry in the world [1]. A systematic and clustered distribution and development strategy is one of the more successful strategies for organizing small and medium-sized businesses, which has emerged a major role in regional development in different countries and has helped the local population at the micro level over the past three decades [9]. Research suggests that a systematic, regular and clustered distribution of businesses, especially those in the tourism sector could lead to greater economic efficiencies within the rural communities. Such as strategy can result in people starting new businesses either within or outside of their primary sector. Aandddtihtieondiasltlryi,bfuotrioenstoafnrdurpaal,sntuomreavdeicgeatnadtiuornbanndsetthtlemdeisnttrsi,baustiwoenlloafsroutrhaelr, necoomtoaudricsmand urbanand sceutlttluermalentotus,raissmwaetltlrasctoiothnesr, ceocmotporuirsiesmtheancadpcauclituiersaflotroutoruisrmismattrhaacttihoanvse, cmoamdpertihse tchoentceaxptafcoirties fordteovuerloispmmtehnattaht athveelmocaadl,entahtieocnoanl atenxdt efovrendeinvteelronpamtioennatlaletvthele[l1o8c]a. l, national and even international level [18]
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