RESIDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARD SUPPORT FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Tourism in Saudi Arabia is rich with historical, archaeological, and cultural heritage sites all over the country. Recently, it is noticeable that Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia asserts the importance of investment in the tourism industry as one of the most promising industries for the long-term to decrease the dependency of oil-exporting as income’s resource. Nonetheless, there are a number of opportunities and threats to develop the tourism sector. However, tourism development needs support from local communities to achieve the goal of Vision 2030. Hence, the purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of tourism namely, socio-cultural, economic, and environment on the support for tourism development from local resident’s perspective. Drawing upon the lenses of social exchange theory, the theoretical framework has been developed for further investigation. To assess the developed model, data will be collected from residents who live in three tourism destinations cities namely, Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam using a self-administered questionnaire.