The tourism industry is influenced by various factors including socio-cultural evolution and political relations. Especially after the 1978 Islamic revolution in Iran, a new tourism policy brought new tourism conditions with a focus on pilgrimage tourism. In general, tourism is known as one of the essential elements of rural development. In Iran there are many sacred places that are regularly visited by pilgrimages. Some of the holy places are located in rural areas and attract many visitors. In undeveloped rural areas, the community suffers from numerous socioeconomic problems including poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and even depopulation. Sometimes rural development is ignored by state planning, in favor of urban development. The government's open market policy in agriculture[??if it is open, why the government]. These problems lead to economic stagnation and ultimately degradation of the quality of life in rural areas. Rural tourism offers the opportunity to create jobs and diversify incomes for rural families. In recent years, the local government has taken tourism activities into consideration. Since 2005, the state authority of Iran plays a leading role in the development of rural tourism. The Tourism Sample Village (TSV) is a major project to study the possibilities and potential of local resources. Furthermore, TVS focus on developing rural tourism and encouraging local inhabitants. Rural tourism is a sustainable program to support local society and preserve the local environment. In other words, TVS serves as a fundamental basis for establishing sustainable local tourism in the country (Clarke, Denman, Hickman & Slovak, 2001). Rural Tour......middle of paper......and low income level. The inadequate traditional agricultural system aggravates this situation; rural lands no longer support local families. Consequently, this condition is the main reason for poverty; therefore, rural income per capita is lower than the national average. Rural areas in Iran suffer from low public services, high unemployment and high emigration rate; these factors jeopardize the entire structure of life. Consequently, tourism represents an additional approach to reverse the decline in productivity of rural areas. Rural tourism offers solutions to many of the problems plaguing rural areas; these include economic growth, sociocultural development and environmental development. Therefore, tourism is an integral element of sustainable rural development policy. These effects of rural tourism are shown in Figure 1 (Sharpley, 2002).