Fitting Linear Regression Equations to the Number of Foreign and Domestic Tourists Visiting Soltaniyeh Dome According to Climate Change

The present paper examined the effect of factors of time of the year and the season on the number of domestic and foreign tourists visiting the Soltaniyeh Dome in the Zanjan province from 2004 to 2015. Soltaniyeh Dome located in Zanjan province is the 3^rd highest dome in the world with a height of 48.5 meters. The data of this study come from 30684 foreign and 1455619 domestic tourists collected by Zanjan Province's Cultural Heritage and Handicrafts Organization. Regression equations were fitted using SAS 2014 (Statistical Analysis System) in the Windows software. Estimation of the annual and seasonal trend of the number of tourists was done using the coefficient of determination of the number of tourists. The results of the study showed that the average trend of the number of foreign tourists was 269±63 and its growth had a coefficient of determination of 0.64 (p<0.05).‌ However, this trend was estimated to be 92 ± 16, 86 ± 22, 58 ± 29, and 5 ± 6 for spring, summer, autumn, and winter seasons, respectively, with coefficients of determination of 0.77, 0.60, 0.47, and 7.5, which had a significant decrease during these seasons, and its winter trend was not significant (p>0.05). The total average of these trends for domestic tourists was 7308±1048 (p<0.05) and its determination coefficient was 0.83. Its seasonal trend (along with its coefficient of determination) was estimated as 3960± 743 (r²=0.73), 2300±387 (r²=0.85), 90 ± 134 (r²=4.2), and 259 ± 120 (r²=0.32) respectively for seasons in order. The results showed that the number of foreign and domestic tourists could be predictable with an acceptable coefficient of determination, which would be useful in future planning for the development of the tourism industry in this place.