Role of travel and tourism sector in the attainment of Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia: An analytical study

  • Received February 11, 2021;
    Accepted June 8, 2021;
    Published June 17, 2021
  • Author(s)
  • DOI
    http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.19(2).2021.23
  • Article Info
    Volume 19 2021, Issue #2, pp. 276-290
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Tourism is the main service industry significantly developing in the world. It is recognized as the critical factor in economic improvement in various countries. Saudi Arabia is one of the oldest and most famous spots for pilgrimage tourism due to its Islamic heritage. The study analyzes data available on the websites of the Saudi government to specify the contribution of travel and tourism revenue to the economy and its trend, occupancy of residential, and transportation capacity. A tourism satisfaction questionnaire was administered online to get the responses of Saudi nationals and residents related to tourism infrastructure, facilities, and other tourism services in Saudi Arabia. Ranks and percentage analysis were applied to get the relational satisfaction of tourists. Index numbers, ratios, percentages, and coefficient of variations were applied to get the trend, yearly fluctuations, variations, weights, and contribution of tourism avenues. There is a positive but low degree correlation between tourism revenue and the GDP of Saudi Arabia for the period from 2010 to 2018. The results indicate either negative or negligibly positive revenue growth of the accommodation/hotel services, food services, and air transportation. Two-thirds of tourists are either strongly satisfied or satisfied with essential and other tourism services and facilities in Saudi Arabia. Apart from tourist satisfaction, the Saudi government may consider a variety of services as per the economic level of the targeted tourists, and softening of visiting visa procedures and fees to enhance tourism revenue of major contributors for the positive and progressive development to the economy.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia, for providing financial support to complete this project (Project No: 2020/02/16978).

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    • Table A1. Revenue and its contribution to the GDP and relative movement (million Riyals)
    • Table A2. Weights and composition trend of tourism revenue in Saudi Arabia (million Riyals)
    • Table A3. Contribution trend of tourism revenue avenues to GDP of Saudi Arabia (million Riyals)
    • Table A4.Transport services in Saudi Arabia
    • Table A5. Hotel room occupancy in Saudi Arabia
    • Table A6. Tourists’ responses about essential services and facilities of Saudi Arabian tourism
    • Table A7. Tourists’ responses about other services, facilities and related factors of Saudi Arabian tourism
    • Conceptualization
      Anis Ali
    • Data curation
      Anis Ali
    • Formal Analysis
      Anis Ali
    • Funding acquisition
      Anis Ali
    • Methodology
      Anis Ali
    • Project administration
      Anis Ali
    • Validation
      Anis Ali
    • Writing – original draft
      Anis Ali
    • Writing – review & editing
      Anis Ali
    • Investigation
      Anas A. Salameh
    • Software
      Anas A. Salameh
    • Supervision
      Anas A. Salameh
    • Visualization
      Anas A. Salameh