Economy

Tourism industry cannot be only considered as a way of recreation and escaping from daily routines. Of course, by use of strategic planning and principles of sustainable development in tourism, we can develop the economy of countries. So far, tourism industry has been gradually developed in all parts of human society. Moreover, its connection with society and different aspects of human culture aroused the emergence of different trends. Tourism industry is one of these trends. Tourism is one of the oldest and most booming industries all over the world. Since tourism expenditure plays a decisive role in tourism economy, religious tourism can cause significant changes in the economic conditions of local communities. It is notable that tourism industry has the two core elements of supply and demand. Following this approach in tourism industry indicates its remarkable effect in the economy tourist destinations and, consequently, local communities. So, it can reveal the importance of studies on types of tourism including religious tourism to assess its economic impacts on the development of rural communities.

Tourism industry is one of the most effective approaches which is influencing in the reconstruction and development of rural areas and has been considered by planners and managers since previous decades. Oji Abad is a village in Amol County, Mazandaran Province. The presence of Astane Hazrat Abolfazl (AS) in the center of the village and its being close to sacred edifice, has made a booming religious complex there. Considering its potential capacities, the basic question is that what are some impacts of the presence of pilgrims, especially religious tourism, on the development of Oji Abad? And in which aspect these effects are more notable?

This is an applied study of descriptive-analytical type. Required data for the research have been already collected from documentary and field studies (by surveys and questionnaires completed by rural residents). Questionnaires have been completed in person. The information have been coded and then analyzed in SPSS software. The statistical society of the research consists of Oji Abad rural households which, according to the documentaries from rural municipality, had had a number of 350 households and 1400 inhabitants. Simple random sampling method was used and based on Cochran formula the required sample size was determined to be 152 households which have directly answered the questions. To evaluate the impact of religious tourism on each sub-criteria of the related factors (economic, social, cultural and environmental) the value of each respective sub-criteria was firstly determined using Delphi technique and quantity table of "Thomas L. hour". Then, using Likert scale, the value of each sub-criteria was added to its rating and its relative value was calculated in the total questionnaires. In the next step, NOVA test and regression analysis were used to analyze the impact of religious tourism on the four dimensions of Rural Development and to investigate hypotheses of the research.

Discussion and conclusion
Religious tourism is one of the most important and booming industries of tourism with significant impacts on different aspects of societies, especially its economy. Results from One-way ANOVA indicate that it does not equally influence the four economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects and it strongly affects economic, cultural, and social factors, respectively. Results from regression analysis confirm the same things. It can be said that religious tourism in the intended rural area largely affect the economic aspect of the local society and that the religious booming and presence of pilgrims in the village cause formation of temporary businesses, improvement of transport, service, and residential sectors. Agencies, road transportation, Supermarkets, bakeries and other businesses have achieved the greatest benefits of the boom of religious tourism in the village.
Of course, it must be said that its economic impact has not been spread enough and just affected the living conditions of a limited number of households. So, all the potential capacities of religious tourism have not been used in the villages and it needs precise management and planning. The entrance of religious tourists and pilgrims from different cultures and cultural interactions of people and local communities caused remarkable cultural changes of the host community. So, cultural aspect is located in the second place of effectiveness. But, this matter cannot be considered as the only reason of cultural changes in local societies. In addition, vast and strong activities of public media, especially in recent years, is the main reason of rural cultural interaction and changes. Social factor is ranking in the third grade for Oji Abad which means that the host community and most of other communities of tourists and pilgrims are socially homogenous with no significant differences. Finally, based on statistics from the research tests, the boom of religious tourism has had a significant impact on some parts of the rural environment, especially those parts which are directly connected with the religious system, and has led to the distribution of wastes, overpopulation and overcrowding of the village. On the other hand, it has had no effect on virgin areas, water resources and its
landscapes which have been far from the center of the religious system.

 Introduction
Agritourism, regarded as a sustainable development strategy for rural communities, is a tool for economic diversification and conserving land resources, agricultural landscapes and cultural assets. The rural areas of Mazandaran Province are a significant agricultural hub of the country due to their abundant capabilities such as soil fertility, vast plains, good climate and sufficient water resources. This province is also known as one of the most visited tourist destinations with mass tourism form in the country. These capabilities are compatible with developing niche tourism, such as agritourism. Therefore, it is necessary for the tourism governance of Mazandaran to combine the activities of the two sectors of agriculture and tourism to encourage and promote agritourism to preserve the region's agricultural lands and agricultural heritage and traditions in order to prevent unsustainable development. However, success in agritourism requires attention to the issue of planning and demand management to attract interested tourists and also understanding why and how the behavioral processes pattern and their travel decisions. Therefore, this study aims to understand the factors affecting the behavioral intentions of tourists towards agritourism in rural areas of Mazandaran Province. In order to understand and explain the decision-making process, the Planned Behavior model was used to examine the attitudes of tourists towards agricultural activities, their subjective norms and perceived behavioral control as determinants of tourists' behavioral intentions. This model provides suitable conditions for obtaining the necessary information and awareness about tourists' specific behaviors and inclinations towards agritourism.

 Methodology 
This descriptive and quantitative study is based on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The study's statistical population is the tourist who has experience travelling to rural areas of Mazandaran. The number of statistical samples was estimated at 220 people. Data were collected through a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: demographic and specialized questions. Specialized questions included two items for measuring behavioral intention variable (BI), two items for attitude towards agritourism (ATT), three items for subjective norms (SN), three items for perceived behavioral control variable (PBC) and one item for past experience (PE). The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed using content, construct, convergent, divergent and diagnostic validity. Also, its reliability was confirmed by composite reliability and pre-test of 30 questionnaires based on Cronbach's alpha test. Data classification and analysis were performed through SPSS25 and SmartPLS3.3.3.

Discussion and conclusion
Finally, the results showed that the factors of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control had affected the behavioral intentions of tourists to visit agricultural farms and rural areas in Mazandaran Province. It was also found that tourists with a positive belief and attitude towards agritourism activities are more inclined to visit agricultural and rural environments. Compared to other factors determining behavioral intentions, subjective norms have the greatest impact on the intention to the agricultural and rural environment. In other words, the intention to visit increases when people (such as family, relatives, friends or colleagues) and influential persons in virtual spaces recommend travelling to agricultural destinations in rural areas of Mazandaran Province. According to Hofstede's cultural dimensions (national culture), Iran is ranked as one of the collectivist countries and cultures (41), and therefore the people of our society are more affected by social norms. Furthermore, this study found that perceived behavioral control has a positive effect on the behavioral intentions of tourists to visit the agricultural environment of rural areas in Mazandaran Province. Tourists believe that their confidence in their ability to make such trips, as well as enough money and time for vacations, influences their behavioral intentions to visit the agricultural and rural areas of this destination. Although past experience is effective in the relationship between attitude and behavioral intentions, the past experience of tourists had a moderate effect. In this province, because most of the lands are engaged in agricultural activities, little attention has been paid to agritourism activities. In other words, agritourism is a new sector in this traditional destination. Therefore, the previous experiences of tourists do not include in-depth and participatory experiences in agritourism activities and include items such as entertainment and shopping. It should be noted that tourists in this study had a strong tendency to participate in recreational and entertainment activities and did not want to participate in agritourism activities because most of the tourists in this destination are leisure tourists and are not specialized tourists agritourism. Therefore, creating a brand and a new image of rural areas of Mazandaran as an agritourism destination is recommended.