Al-Hassa Tourism Development and Attitudes to It

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Abstract

The paper compares the attitudes and perceptions of Al-Hassa residents and non-residents of tourism development in the region. The paper starts by highlighting and defining the problem under study. An analysis of the study area reveals various aspects such as historical background, unemployment, and social-economic characteristics. The development of the tourism industry in Al-Hassa is discussed in detail considering its current trends. Various government mechanisms to develop this sector in the near future are also highlighted. The literature review contains data that has been collected for the analysis of Al-Hassa’s tourism sector. It leads to the development of various research questions and hypotheses that will guide the research process. The paper also provides a description of the methodology to be used in the research. This section explains the distributed survey and target population amongst the residents and non-residents of Al-Hassa municipality.

Introduction

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has made efforts to diversify economic activities with a view of achieving various goals of vision 2030 such as preventing overreliance on oil as a major source of income. The Al-Hassa region is one of the biggest tourist destinations in the KSA owing to its historic background and numerous oases. Although the tourism industry has been growing rapidly especially in the Al-Hassa region, there have been many impediments to the developments. Al-Hassa region is the focus of this research with respect to the attitudes and perceptions of residents and non-residents towards tourism development.

Residents refer to the local people of the Al-Hassa region who are affected by the tourist and conservation activities enforced by the Saudi government. These people have a close relationship with the tourist destination and their understanding of the environment in the region surpasses that of the tourists. On the other hand, non-residents imply the regional and international tourists who visit the Al-Hassa region for both recreational and business activities.

In the context of this article, attitudes do not only refer to the feelings of the residents towards tourism but also the value they place on the scenic oases in the area. The perception of consumers is the visitor’s awareness of the destination environment, which is influenced by social and economic changes. Tourism development refers to the exposure to a foreign culture, which at times contradicts social, religious, and economic practices. Sometimes, it has led to improved economic growth by creating job opportunities for the residents besides promoting cultural integration. This paper presents a comparative study of residents and non-residents’ attitudes and perceptions of consumers of tourism development in Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia.

Study Area

Al-Hassa occupies 530,000 square kilometers and is located 60 Km from the Arabian Gulf in the Eastern part of Saudi Arabia. The area under cultivation was about 120 square kilometers a few decades ago (Alghenaim, 2013). Al-Hassa has attracted human settlement since the prehistoric period because of the plentiful supply of water. The natural springs that bring forth fresh produce have encouraged human settlement and agriculture in the area for millennia. The strategic geographical position has made the place link different cultures of the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Levant, and Mesopotamia. It was the center of human civilization and a trade hub, the passage to the Arabian Peninsula, and the link between the Arabian Gulf and India.

Al-Hassa is home to over 600,000 people whose social lives are guided by Islamic culture. The residents are law-abiding citizens who highly respect other people and are friendly to strangers. Agriculture, trade, and mining (of crude oil) are the major economic activities of the Al-Hassa population. The Ghawar Fieald, which is among the world’s largest oil fields, offers a lucrative source of income for Al-Hassa residents. Trade and tourism are the other major economic activities in the region (Jafari & Scott, 2014). Despite these productive activities, the rate of unemployment is still high.

*Figure 1 [Unemployment Rate in Al-Hassa] (Jafari & Scott, 2014).*

Tourism Industry in Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia

The tourism industry has been the center of focus for the Al-Hassa municipality in recent years. Several tourism and cultural heritage-based projects have been undertaken to support the transformation of Al-Hassa into a global tourist destination (Gholipour, Tajaddini, & Al-mulali, 2014). The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) under the Tourism Development Council (TDC) has initiated different schemes and activities aimed at conserving national heritage sites to promote tourism in the region. The KSA has for a long time depending on oil as the main source of funding for economic development (Gholipour et al., 2014). Overreliance on petroleum has brought about several structural weaknesses such as extremely subsidized welfare configuration and increased unemployment. The government has put forth several measures to deal with this problem including economy-friendly reforms to attract foreign investment, encourage the participation of the private sector, and boost development in other non-oil areas of the economy like tourism.

According to Khan and Alam (2014), Saudi Arabia has heavily invested in infrastructural development to improve transport networks and accommodation facilities. Traveling costs have been increasing besides establishing visa restrictions to non-religious visitors. These factors posed significant retardation to the growth of the tourism sector. The upgraded transport infrastructure and improved hospitality industry have contributed to an increase in the number of tourists and investors visiting Al-Hassa (Allameh, Khazaei Pool, Jaberi, Salehzadeh, & Asadi, 2015). The number of tourists on leisure, business trips, and pilgrimage visits is steadily increasing with a growth of 1.9% that translated to 14.8 million people in 2016.

The rising number of visitors has prompted the expansion and heavy investment in hospitality facilities such as hotels and guest houses in the past five years. One of the most outstanding developments in Al-Hassa is the Al Ogair Tourism Destination project whose implementation is ongoing and expected to continue for the next 19 years. The first phase, which is almost over, consists of constructing 2600 state-of-the-art furnished apartments as well as 2900 hotel rooms, and many amusement facilities to promote tourism in the region (Allameh et al., 2015). The quality of services offered by the staff in the hospitality industry is high and meets international standards.

The government has put in place several mechanisms to boost tourism in Al-Hassa. His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salma bin Abdul Aziz, who is the SCTA President, inaugurated the House of Culture in Amireya school in Al Hafuf City. It is among heritage milestones that are highly admired in Al-Hassa. The Saudi government has also made efforts to rehabilitate several springs and oases such as the Souk Al Qaysaria, which has played a great role in the agro-economic development in Al-Hassa. Top engineers were contracted to restore and improve their architectural brilliance. It has from time immemorial attracted visitors from not only the neighboring communities but also Western countries. Ancient cities such as Al Hafuf have been the center of focus for rehabilitation activities to revive the splendor of historic centers such as the Jeddah Historic Area, Al Hafuf Historic Center, Majma Historic Center, and the Al Taif Historic Center.

Jaotha Mosque, which has important historical attributes, has also been restored. Although the building was built in the 7^th century, the foundation structures are still intact, and the remnants of the building were refurbished by the Al Turath Foundation. Other heritage sites that the government has renovated include the Ibrahim Palace in Hafuf and Al Bay’ a House. The government has also promoted the growth of the over 35 tourism agencies in Al-Hassa, which have encouraged investors to venture into the tourism sector. As a result, the growth rate of tourist guides has reached 50%. The government has also worked with the media to market tourism through advertising it in different languages. Tourism created numerous jobs for A-Hassa residents besides improving the region’s economy. Investing in tourism is among the initiatives that the Saudi government aims at promoting to prevent overreliance on oil by diversifying economic activities and promoting the private sector in line with the country’s vision 2030.

Region	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Africa	2,080	2,227	2,365	2,452	2,509	2,547
North America	64	69	73	77	78	79
Asia Pacific	3,152	3,437	3,686	3,884	3,927	3,965
Europe	876	962	1,046	1,113	1,148	1,164
Middle East	6,954	7,045	7,069	7,031	6,901	6,818

Figure 2 [Table showing an estimated number of inbound tourists in one month]

Literature Review

Tourism has significant effects on transportation and accommodation among other activities in the destinations of tourists. Although tourism helps in creating environmental awareness, poor planning of associated activities can result in increased conservational costs (Aldosari & Atkins, 2015). Al-Hassa is in Saudi Arabia where private and public life is founded on Islamic doctrines. The influence cuts across all systems from social lives, politics, to economic activities. Yusuf (2015) observed that the state and religion are indivisible in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This state of affairs is seen in Al-Hassa where all activities are structured to conform to Islamic laws. This situation has both direct and indirect negative effects on traveling and amusement activities. In the past, the tourism industry in Al-Hassa was negatively affected by religious strictness.

For a long time, religious tourists were the only group of foreign visitors who were appreciated in Saudi Arabia. Wars resulting from religious conflicts by armed gangs and restrictions on visas for non-religious visitors are among factors that obstruct growth in the KSA tourism industry. According to Zamani-Farahani and Henderson (2010), Western fashion tourism, which is signified by immense leisure, is regarded as fundamentally inconsistent with Islamic culture and religion. However, ever since the government saw the need to stop overreliance on oil, it has concentrated on other aspects of the economy such as empowering the private sector and boosting tourism. The Al-Hassa government has taken several steps such as deregulating the strict rules that make it hard for non-religious visitors to tour the country, to attract tourists. The country has moved quickly to improve the tourism sector. Currently, it is the biggest tourist destination in the Middle East. Stabilization of uneven social security and more advertising is viewed as a necessary approach that can help encourage tourists to visit the country.

Alghenaim (2013) reveals that the absorptive capacity for tourists greatly determines their impacts on both environmental and economic resources in the destination country. The type of visitors has a significant effect on the destination life-cycle of destinations. The government of Saudi Arabia has underway planned to improve the infrastructure of the Al-Hassa region with a view of receiving and accommodating a large number of tourists. Tourists’ positive and negative demands play a significant role in the transformation of destinations. For instance, the natural aspects such as the environment and culture of the destination are mostly replaced by development and commercialization (Stephenson, 2014). This occurrence is known as transformational tourism. It affects the original relationships that residents have with their environment due to factors such as increased noise, congestion, environmental dereliction, and hiked prices.

Al-Hassa residents have a profound interest in making sustainable tourism development. This responsibility will strike an equilibrium between the use of natural resources between residents and tourists. Knowledge about the resident’s attitudes and perceptions of tourism is vital for the unbiased distribution of environmental, social, and economic resources. The government is committed to promoting tourism both in the private and public sectors, with long-term objectives of increasing the number of visitors to 88 million by the year 2022. In 2013, Saudi Arabia was the 20^th most visited country by tourists who numbered close to 14 million. Yusuf (2015) estimates that the government has spent over $20 billion to boost the industry, especially to encourage local tourists to tour areas like Al-Hassa, which is a convenient region during summer. Sadi and Handerson feel that religious tourism is the most thriving in the KSA, with 57% of the 6.3 million tourists visiting for religious purposes. Zamani-Farahani and Handerson (2010) state that Al-Hassa residents, as hosts, bear the responsibility to offer hospitality to visitors, a practice that has highly been appreciated by Western tourists. In recent times, restrictions considered as an infringement of freedom that is likely to discourage international visitors, such as rules on food (no eating pork and drinking alcoholic beverages), social as well as personal relations, or entertainment have been moderated.

Many residents of Al-Hassa find leisure and satisfaction fundamental to ease communication and interaction with colleagues in the workplace, which improves their productivity (Juhari, Bhatti, & Piaralal, 2016). Hospitality industry customers both residents and non-residents value customer satisfaction, which is brought about by service quality and friendliness of the industry employees. The main hindrance to participating in most leisure events are religious and cultural beliefs and observations. However, the Islamic faith supports sports as being among the cultural heritage activities, and the Saudi government admits that sports and faith for both sexes are compatible. Zamani-Farahani and Henderson (2010) advance that political and religious leaders have discouraged residents against several aspects of Western culture such as clothes that expose body parts, eating certain types of food, or indulging in other secular activities. As a result, a significant number of residents have a negative attitude towards recreational activities and facilities such as theatres or swimming pools (Stephenson, 2014). However, a high number of people including non-residents of Al-Hassa support tourism development because of the employment opportunities that the tourism industry offers.

Research Problem and Questions

The problem of this research is to examine resident and non-resident consumers’ attitudes and perceptions of the development of the tourism industry in Al-Hassa. With the increasing rate of tourism development in the KSA, it is crucial to examine reactions of non-residents and residents towards these advancements, given that most of the facilities are designed to suit even non-Muslims, which may contradict Islamic principles.

What are the main economic activities of Al-Hassa residents?
What is the rate of employment in Al-Hassa?
What is the current level of development of the tourism industry in Al-Hassa?
To what extent do Al-Hassa residents and non-residents engage in recreational activities?
What factors affect the rate of tourism development in Al-Hassa?
How does tourism development impact on lives of both the residents and non-residents of Al-Hassa?

Hypotheses

Tourism development in Al-Hassa significantly contributes to economic growth and creates job opportunities for both residents and non-residents.
Facilities built to encourage tourism are encouraging the residents to engage more in recreational activities.
Tourism development allows and encourages Al-Hassa residents to socialize with other ethnic communities and foreigners, thereby making them appreciate diversity and other foreign cultures.
Residents appreciate tourism development because it brings some liberty from the Sharia Laws, which enables the residents to participate in diverse activities such as formal positions for women that were unavailable in the past.

Research Objectives

To assess the level of tourism development in Al-Hassa, KSA.
To examine the obstructing factors that hinder tourism development in Al-Hassa and the magnitude of such factors.
To determine the level to which the government and the private sector engage in tourism development and the extent to which they are committed to such projects.
To determine the extent to which tourism development is appreciated by Al-Hassa residents.
To determine the attitudes of both residents and non-residents towards tourism development, and the extent to which they appreciate tourism projects in Al-Hassa.
To assess the extent to which tourism development contributes to economic growth in Al-Hassa and the degree to which residents benefit from the developments.
To examine the rates of unemployment in Al-Hassa, and assess the extent to which tourism development contributes to job creation and poverty eradication in accordance with the country’s vision 2030.
To determine the levels of engagement of both residents and non-residents in recreational activities associated with the tourism industry.
To assess the levels of hospitability of Al-Hassa residents to both religious as well as nonreligious visitors, and the extent to which they can be welcoming and appreciative of other foreign cultures.
To evaluate the extent to which tourism development in Al-Hassa can impact negatively on the lives of both the residents and nonresident visitors, concerning aspects like religious beliefs, social norms, moral conduct, or individual rights.

Methodology

This research will utilize the descriptive design to collect data about the residents’ and non-residents’ attitudes towards tourism development in Al-Hassa. The descriptive qualitative research method will be used to get the views of the respondents on questions about tourism development. A total of 150 participants, who will include KSA citizens and noncitizens, will be selected to take part in the survey. The cluster sampling method will be used to pick the 150 respondents who shall be sampled randomly from different locations and organizations, according to their familiarity with Al-Hassa (Aldosari & Atkins, 2015). A field survey will be conducted in which each respondent will be required to fill questionnaires with short and precise, mutually exclusive close-ended questions, to avoid confusing the respondents, and to increase the levels of accuracy.

Different methods of distributing the questionnaires will be utilized depending on the preference of the participants. The most preferred survey distribution methods are print and electronic media. This method is convenient for participants who will be near the physical location of the survey office, which is to be opened in Al-Hassa. Questionnaires issued through electronic forms can be filled by respondents who will access them on the research website or social media platforms such as Facebook, depending on the participants’ preferences. This method is convenient for participants who will not be able to physically go to the research office. The survey will be designed to comprise a Likert Scale with five Likert items that will be used to allow the respondents to gauge the degree of impact of a particular item in a range of 1-5, one being the lowest and five greatest. Data will be analyzed using SPSS software.

Conclusion

In recent years, the KSA has been focused on developing the tourism industry in a bid to stop overreliance on fossil fuels as the main economic activity. Although there have been restrictions on visitors based on religion, there have been several reforms on strict conditions, which has attracted more tourists. The rate of unemployment in Al-Hassa and the KSA as a whole is high especially in the public sector due to overreliance on oil. The tourism development has created more jobs for the citizens and presents opportunities for the appreciation of cultural diversity.

References

Aldosari, A., & Atkins, J. (2015). A study of corporate social responsibility disclosure practices in Saudi Arabia. Web.

Alghenaim, K. (2013). Recreating urban space in Saudi Arabia: Private sector participation in establishing creative cities through leisure, sports, and recreation. Web.

Allameh, S., Khazaei Pool, J., Jaberi, A., Salehzadeh, R., & Asadi, H. (2015). Factors influencing sport tourists’ revisit intentions: The role and effect of destination image, perceived quality, perceived value and satisfaction. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 27(2), 191-207.

Gholipour, H., Tajaddini, R., & Al-mulali, U. (2014). Does personal freedom influence outbound tourism? Tourism Management, 41(1), 19-25.

Jafari, J., & Scott, N. (2014). Muslim world and its tourisms. Annals of Tourism Research, 44(1), 1-19.

Juhari A., Bhatti M., & Piaralal S. (2016). Service quality and customer loyalty in Malaysian Islamic insurance sector exploring the mediating effects of customer satisfaction. HRMARS, 6(3), 1-20.

Khan, S., & Alam, M. (2014). Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A potential destination for medical tourism. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 9(4), 257-262.

Stephenson, M. L. (2014). Deciphering ‘Islamic hospitality’: Developments, challenges and opportunities. Tourism Management, 40(1), 155-164.

Yusuf, N. (2015). Tourism development in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 8(2), 62-69.

Zamani-Farahani, H., & Henderson, J. (2010). Islamic tourism and managing tourism development in Islamic societies: The cases of Iran and Saudi Arabia’, International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(1), 81-86.

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