Evalution of the role of local markets in Mazandaran province

In fact, markets being considered as beating hearts of urban and rural areas play a significant role in the life or death of human societies. Jooibar is one of the important cities located at the center of Mazandaran province and adjacent to Caspian Sea beaches. This city has a population of 31183 people according to the general population and housing census conducted at 2011 and has an agricultural and industrial role in the area. Despite its potential in tourism development, especially commercial tourism, it has gathered a low tourist attention from both inside and outside the province. This study seeks to identify the potential role of commercial tourism in the local Friday bazaar of this city and accordingly, intends to evaluate its capacity of improving tourism attraction. This is a descriptive – analytical study and is considered an applied research. The study sample included all tourists who visited the local market on a weekly basis to buy goods. According to the Morgan table, 195 of them were directly questioned using the simple random sampling method. The obtained results has demonstrated that this market has a significant role in tourism development in this city, and has succeeded to fulfill the needs and requirements of tourists to a great extent due to the variety, quality and prices of the products offered. It has furthermore improved the economic condition of the citizens.