نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
Handicrafts, as one of the most prominent manifestations of local culture and the rural creative economy, play a fundamental role in strengthening livelihoods, promoting entrepreneurship, and enhancing the social sustainability of local communities. This study aimed to identify the capacities and challenges of rural women's handicrafts and to elucidate their linkage with rural tourism in Torbat-e Jam and Taybad Counties. The study was applied in terms of purpose and qualitative and exploratory in terms of methodology, employing the Strauss and Corbin grounded theory approach. Data were collected through 20 semi-structured interviews with women handicraft producers, experts, and managers in the field of cultural heritage. The data were analyzed using MAXQDA software through three stages of open, axial, and selective coding. The findings resulted in the identification of 329 initial concepts, 24 axial categories, and one core category entitled “Empowering Rural Women through Handicrafts and Rural Tourism.” The findings indicated that the major challenges included inadequate marketing and advertising infrastructure, limited financial capital, the absence of adequate support and insurance systems, unequal competition with industrial products, economic instability, cultural constraints, and ineffective legislative policies. In contrast, capacities such as intergenerational indigenous skills, a favorable geographical location, proximity to the Dogharoun border, and location along tourism routes in Razavi Khorasan provide opportunities for developing local entrepreneurial clusters and establishing effective linkages between handicrafts and rural tourism. Based on the findings, developing women's handicraft clusters, establishing cooperative workshops, providing digital marketing training, strengthening local branding, leveraging the potential of religious tourism in Mashhad, and ensuring sustained institutional support can serve as key strategies for the economic and social empowerment of rural women and the achievement of sustainable regional development. Furthermore, strengthening collaboration among local institutions, rural communities, and tourism stakeholders can enhance the effectiveness of these strategies.
کلیدواژهها English
