The analysis of the effects of the presence of non-Iranian religious tourists on the quality of citizens' lives (Case study: Samen Area of Municipality of Mashhad)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mahbobeh Saberi ¹
• Zahra Anabestani ²
• Alireza Bidkhori ³

¹ MSc., in Religion Tourism, Kherad Garayan Motahar Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran.

² Ph.D., in Geography & Urban Planning, Lecture of Kherad Garayan Motahar Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran.

³ Assistant Prof., in Geography & Urban Planning, Kherad Garayan Motahar Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran

10.30495/jupm.2021.3947

Abstract

Religious tourism, commonly referred to as tourism in the religion, is a form of tourism in which religious people (individually or in group) travel for pilgrimage, religious propaganda or cruise (exploratory). Hence, nowadays religious tourism has been considered in order to earn money as well as to preserve the cultural heritage. This article attempts to investigate the effects of the presence of non-Iranian religious tourists on various aspects of citizens' lives living in the Samen area of Mashhad. The research method in this study is applied and methodologically descriptive-analytical. Data collection was done based on library and field methods, and data analysis was done as descriptive (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (single-sample t-test and factor analysis method). The research population consisted of 118 households in Samen region, which according to the Cochran formula, 90 households were selected. The findings of the study show that the presence of foreign religious tourism in the Samen area of Mashhad has had one of its greatest impact with an average of 3.353 on the economic dimension of citizens' lives. Factor analysis results show that 6 factors are more than 1. Also, according to the cumulative percentage of variances, the total number of factors from 1 to 26 explains 51.59% of the total variation. The effects of foreign religious tourism on the Samen area of Mashhad after categorizing in factor analysis shows that "economic prosperity and job creation" in the region with 15.2% of variance are known as the most important factor. According to the findings, solutions such as creating suitable job opportunities, creating culture for maintaining social identity and reducing the negative effects of tourists' presence, suitable location for projects in the change of use and construction in the region, etc. are suggested.
. Introduction
Religious tourism focuses on visiting religious places or destinations in order to consolidate a particular belief and develop an identity that points to spiritual and religious intellectualism. These places attract the attention of visitors not only for religious reasons but also for their historical, architectural or artistic values. Globalization, economic liberalization, new ethnicity and religious policies, the commodification of culture and values ​​affect many religious sites in the present world. Situated in downtown area and thanks to the presence of Imam Reza (AS) courtyard, the Samen District of ​​Mashhad municipality has certain conditions and features in the social dimension. The existence of hotels, restaurants, resorts and tourism services in general, especially religious tourism at the macro level, highlights the need for proper systematic management based on the needs and wants of tourists and the impact they will have on the quality of life of the citizens living in the area. Therefore, it is highly essential to study the effects of the presence of tourists on the social dimension, so the main question of the study is that: What is the impact of the presence of foreign religious tourists on the economic, social and physical dimensions of the Samen District?
 
2. Research Method
This study is an applied one, conducted in a descriptive-analytical method. A part of the data was collected by library research and the other part through questionnaires filled out by participants in the study area. The population of the study was comprised of people living in section 1 of Mashhad municipality where according to 2016 statistics, 552 people live in 118 households. This section is located at the intersection of Andarzgou, Khosravi and Khazali streets up to the Shohada Intersection. The sample size was calculated based on Cochran's formula with p and q coefficients of 0.5 and d of 0.05 from 118 households equal to 90 households. Random sampling method was employed. The variable of citizens' quality of life was evaluated using 44 items, based on Cronbach's alpha, whose reliability coefficient was 0.799 or close to 0.8 which is acceptable, and the validity of the questionnaire was evaluated and confirmed by university professors.
 
3. Findings
The analysis of social dimension of the quality of life shows that presence of foreign religious tourists has an average effect of 2.5 on their lives. One of the important social indicators in non-Iranian religious tourism is stress and lack of relaxation with the t-statistics of 15.611, at the significance level of 0.000 and the mean greater than 3, and the confidence level of 95%, we may come to the conclusion that citizens believe it is one of the most important social indicators resulted from non-Iranian religious tourism in Samen District. The examination of the economic dimension of quality of life shows that the presence of foreign religious tourists had an average effect of 3.35 on their lives. Attracting investors in the Samen District with t-statistics of 11.602, at the significance level of 0.000, the mean greater than 3, and the confidence level of 95%, one can argue this indicator is one of the most important economic indicators resulted from the presence of non-Iranian religious tourists. Eventually, concerning the physical dimension of quality of life, the presence of foreign religious tourists had an average effect of 2.8. Increased constructions with a t-statistic of 9.92, at the significance level of 0.000, and the mean greater than 3, with the confidence level of 95%, in citizens’ view, has been one of the most important indicators of physical dimensions of non-Iranian religious tourism in Samen District. Given the respondents' individual characteristics and the effects of religious tourism, there was a significant and direct relationship (0.224) only between the indicator of residence area and the economic effects of tourism at the level of P<0.05_‌. This means that the economic impact of non-Iranian religious tourism in Samen District of Mashhad increases as the residence time increases in the area.
 
4. Conclusions
The effects of religious tourism on different economic, social and physical aspects with respect to the presence of foreign religious tourists in Samen District of Mashhad were studied from the perspective of the citizens living in the area. Given the normality of the research variables and indicators, one-sample T-test was used to study the economic, social and physical effects of foreign religious tourism on the area. The test results show that the actual mean of the total participants is greater than 3 which is above the average, and with respect to the significance level of less than 0.05, this indicator is significant and can be generalized to the whole population. The upper and lower limits of the economic indicator were also positive. Therefore, according to the results of T-test, the most significant effect of foreign religious tourism was on the economic dimension of the Samen District, as the t-statistic of 17.467, at the significance level of 0.000 with an average of more than 3 at the confidence level of 95%, show that citizens considered economic indicators as the most important effects of foreign religious tourism on Samen District.
 After categorizing the effects of foreign religious tourism on the Samen district of Mashhad municipality, "economic prosperity and employment" in the area with 15.2% from the variance was identified as the most important factor affected from religious tourism in Samen district. After that, the factors of "socio-cultural effects" with 11.58% of the variance, "physical effects" with 7.78% of the variance, "managerial effects" with 6.26% of the variance, and traffic with 4.88% of the variance and "local identity" with 3.99% of the variance were identified as the most important effects of foreign religious tourism on the Samen District of Mashhad.

Keywords

• Economic
• Social
• Physical
• Religious Tourism
• Samen region of Mashhad

20.1001.1.22285229.1400.12.45.2.6

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