The Environmental Effects of Tourism Development in Noushahr

Abstract

Tourism is considered as a potentially sustainable industry and plays a significant role in the development of the society at different levels and is seen as an important step to achieve sustainable development. The development of tourism in Noushahr has resulted in instability in terms of environmental aspects. Therefore, given that the process of tourism development in these regions would result in the destruction of the environment and cause many environmental problems as well as the undesirable and instable conditions, the present study aims to explore the environmental effects of the tourism development in Noushahr. To this end, a descriptive-analytic methodology is used to delve into aspects and indicators affecting the sustainable development in terms of environmental factors. In addition, the data are collected through documents and library and field methods. The population under study includes people living in Noushahr and tourists visiting it. The research sample includes 380 families and 384 tourists who were selected through the Cochrane formula. The collected data are analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including t-test. Results of the study show that there is a significant relationship between environmental effects and tourism. Besides, the level of negative effects caused by tourists in all cases under investigation is beyond the acceptable level in the view of the local community. As such, tourism should be developed in a way that while responding to tourists’ leisure needs and improving their quality of experience it contributes to improving the quality of the environment.