Owner & Primary Publisher: University of Tehran; Journal of Rural Research 2008-7373 17 1 2026 04 26 Tourism Business Ecosystem for Rural Women: A Stakeholder Comparative Analysis Tourism Business Ecosystem for Rural Women: A Stakeholder Comparative Analysis 53 70 107901 10.22059/jrur.2026.417437.2129 FA Vahid Ghasemi Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology, Universidade Europeia, Lisbon, Portugal; CETRAD, Vila Real, Portugal 0000-0002-2149-9141 Mohammadamin Khorasani Department of Human Geography and Planning, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 0000-0002-8591-8704 Mahdiyeh Qaraei Department of Human Geography and Planning, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2026 01 15 A B S T R A C T The success and sustainability of businesses of rural women depend not only on women's individual capabilities but also on a set of environmental, institutional, cultural, and economic factors—known as the "business ecosystem." The present study aims to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the status of the tourism business ecosystem for rural women in two counties, Soume’e sara and Fooman (Gilan Province), and to identify the most important barriers and solutions for its improvement. This research is applied in purpose and survey-descriptive in method, with a quantitative approach and qualitative content analysis. The statistical population included 50 rural women working in tourism (including entrepreneurs, employees, home-based businesses, and local vendors) and 42 local managers (village heads, council members, and cultural heritage experts), selected through a census method. The findings indicate that the overall status of the rural women's tourism business ecosystem from both perspectives is highly unfavorable (overall mean of 1.84 for women and 1.87 for managers out of 5). From the perspective of rural women, the components of "human capital" (1.65), "social" (1.79), and "business" (1.84) are the weakest, while "infrastructure and technology" (2.64) is the relatively most acceptable component. From the perspective of local managers, the components of "infrastructure and technology" (0.9), "social" (1.85), and "business" (1.87) are the weakest, while "culture" (2.95), "support" (2.69), and "education" (2.54) are in a moderate status. This research suggests that policy-making for the development of women's entrepreneurship in rural tourism should be based on three main pillars: "human capital empowerment," "improvement of soft and hard infrastructure," and "changing cultural attitudes." A B S T R A C T The success and sustainability of businesses of rural women depend not only on women's individual capabilities but also on a set of environmental, institutional, cultural, and economic factors—known as the "business ecosystem." The present study aims to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the status of the tourism business ecosystem for rural women in two counties, Soume’e sara and Fooman (Gilan Province), and to identify the most important barriers and solutions for its improvement. This research is applied in purpose and survey-descriptive in method, with a quantitative approach and qualitative content analysis. The statistical population included 50 rural women working in tourism (including entrepreneurs, employees, home-based businesses, and local vendors) and 42 local managers (village heads, council members, and cultural heritage experts), selected through a census method. The findings indicate that the overall status of the rural women's tourism business ecosystem from both perspectives is highly unfavorable (overall mean of 1.84 for women and 1.87 for managers out of 5). From the perspective of rural women, the components of "human capital" (1.65), "social" (1.79), and "business" (1.84) are the weakest, while "infrastructure and technology" (2.64) is the relatively most acceptable component. From the perspective of local managers, the components of "infrastructure and technology" (0.9), "social" (1.85), and "business" (1.87) are the weakest, while "culture" (2.95), "support" (2.69), and "education" (2.54) are in a moderate status. This research suggests that policy-making for the development of women's entrepreneurship in rural tourism should be based on three main pillars: "human capital empowerment," "improvement of soft and hard infrastructure," and "changing cultural attitudes." https://jrur.ut.ac.ir/article_107901_0378606366356f3844a726139298c14a.pdf