To realize Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is entering a new era in tourism and entertainment. It is exploring its cities and tourist destinations, which include several gorgeous coastline sites and distinct heritage areas, positioning Saudi Arabia to become one of the Middle East's top attractions and entertainment destinations in a few years. Because it belongs to the third basic sector of the economy, namely the services sector, the leisure, and tourism sector is critical for the development of the local economy in terms of diversifying sources of income, increasing GDP annually, and supporting SMEs, increasing the proportion of foreign direct investment to generate jobs in the entertainment sector. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared that Saudi Arabia will become a global tourist destination, even though various factors influence the country's tourism success. There are numerous challenges in the tourism industry, particularly in the marketing of hotel services. These impediments range from social to legal to administrative to political, all of which act as a roadblock to the correct use of TQM and slow down the development of tourism, in particular economic development. (Ab-dulsttar, 2013; Alathathi, 2012) The purpose of this article is to highlight the variables and obstacles that may affect tourism's performance in Saudi Arabia.
Although the fact that Saudi Arabia appears to be on the verge of becoming an international tourism destination in the Arab world, it is confronted with numerous challenges. The Saudi Kingdom's various strengths, such as its historical heritage and the biodiversity of the Red Sea, are frequently unknown outside of the region. Even with significant government investment to promote the Kingdom, it will take time for people's negative perceptions to change (Poncet,2021). According to Johnson (2010), twenty years ago, the first British tourists were allowed to enter the country. At the time, women under the age of 20 were only permitted to visit the country if accompanied by relatives. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a reputation for being overly conservative, and as such, it is frequently viewed as a closed-off nation. (Abuhjeeleh,2019). Saudi Arabia is also plagued by the lack of Saudis who work in the tourism and hospitality industries, which hampers tourism. And the lack of qualified personnel with the necessary skills, tourism, and hospitality-related jobs in Saudi Arabia increased more than twofold (333,521 in 2004 versus 709,292 in 2012). However, the percentage of Saudis didn't follow the above trend (20% in 2004 versus 26.7% in 2012) (Ekiz,2017). In addition to environmental challenges, they negatively affect tourists. Water shortage and the excessive heat can create sanitary problems such as diseases. Sustainable tourism practices need to be adopted but this has a price and timespan. Climate creates a challenge for children, disabled, third age, and weak tourists. Seasonality can be observed for some destinations of Saudi Arabia due to climate during the tourism development lifecycle. (Ekiz, 2017). During the summer, some tourists may be overwhelmed by the harsh temperatures in some Saudi cities.
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The tourist industry is a priority of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, and the Saudi government has backed it to become a key partner in development through several regulations. As a result, Saudi Arabia is working to resolve all of the issues that are preventing tourism from succeeding. The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) was founded in 2000 by the Saudi government to oversee the planning, organization, and development of the tourism sector. SCTH is working with the private sector to remove barriers like governmental laws and bureaucracy that the tourist industry encounters in general, and tourism investment activity in particular, through organizing agreements, incentives, and promotional activities (Yusuf, 2014). The commission tourism is planning to start a tourist economy in the private sector as well as across the country, and the country's tourism industry has long-term objectives. “According to a long-term vision for the country's hospitality sector, visitor numbers will nearly double from 47 million in 2008 to 88 million by 2021, with hotel rooms rising from 117,097 to 254,310, apartment units rising from 101,544 to 185,853 - and industry employment rising from 1.1 million to 1.5 million” (‘Tourism Master Plan for Saudi Arabia’, 2009, p. 1). In December 2013, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced their intention to grant visas to visitors; this was a one-of-a-kind and unprecedented initiative in years (Madden, 2018). Moreover, there are so many committees tasked with promoting tourism activities and affairs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of the issues facing tourism in Saudi Arabia is a lack of Saudis working in the industry. This problem has only recently begun to be addressed. The General Director of Training and Nationalization of Jobs at the Ministry of Tourism, stated that the number of Saudis working in the Kingdom’s tourism area reached round 189,000 out of the complete 726,000 personnel in this sector, and this represents 26 percentage of the whole group of workers in the tourism sector (Al-Safeer, 2021). The tourism industry is growing a plethora of opportunities for Saudi citizens. According to an official of the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), the industry projects create over 400,000 jobs in coming years (Abuhjeeleh, 2019).
This essay has argued how various factors influence the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's success as a worldwide tourism destination. Changes will be required, and several have already been implemented. Saudi Arabia has the potential to become a major tourist destination with the help of money and support from the king. While there are obstacles that will make some aspects of the country's transformation though, they are not insurmountable. Saudi Arabia will be among the best tourist destinations in the world. if the appropriate strategic approach is maintained, benefiting both the Kingdom and the rest of the globe.
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