Pathology of COVID 19 epidemic and Mazandaran ecotourism resorts;a qualitative analysis

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to identify the damage caused by the corona crisis on the ecotourism business, its aggravating contexts and suggestions for reducing the damage in rural areas of Mazandaran. This research has been done with a qualitative approach and with an interview tool. Purposeful sampling was performed. After 21 interviews, theoretical saturation was obtained. Interviews were conducted in rural areas of Mazandaran province. In the present study, selective believing was used as a validation method. Through direct and various citations, documented, the credibility of the research results was confirmed by the researchers. In this way, the text was reasoned with acceptable quotes. In the extraction and coding section, 57 basic concepts were obtained, which were divided into 5 main categories (economic injuries), 2 main categories (social injuries), and 3 main categories (psychological injuries). The intensifying contexts of corona effects were divided into two main categories. Also, the reduction of income was the most important economic damage and the reduction of the indicators of guarantee and reliability of tourism services was the most important occupational damage. Finally, from the perspective of ecotourism homeowners, the most important context for exacerbating the effects of corona on ecotourism, inefficient executive management and lack of job skills, were identified.