The Economic Ripple Effect of Tourism: Insights from Saudi Arabia's Growth and Local Communities

Abstract

The research aimed to measure tourism's impact on Saudi Arabia by investigating the industry's ability to contribute to the country's GDP, create new job opportunities, and impact the local community. The research approach also used secondary data methodology, which used two approaches to collect the data on tourism impact: quantitative and qualitative methods. The research found that the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia has both direct and indirect impacts on Saudi Arabia. As a result, tourism contributed to the total GDP of Saudi Arabia between 2019 to 2022 by 3.8 to 3.0% as a direct impact. Moreover, the study showed the links between the number of tourists, tourist spending, and employment opportunities related to economic growth in Saudi Arabia, which might have an indirect impact on the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. However, in addition to its positive impact, the tourism sector had a negative effect on the Saudi Arabian community, particularly on the cultural structure. Thus, this report represents the impact of tourism on social, cutlery, and policy strategy in Saudi Arabia how the kingdom shifted the economy from oil sources to the non-oil sector, and how the government reduced the cultural harm from tourism practice. This work not only provides a comprehensive understanding of the social economy and the tourism industry's impact on Saudi Arabia but also offers practical insights and recommendations. It presents a detailed analysis of the Saudi government's strategies and the current state, potentials, strategy, and forward insights for sustainable tourism development. By doing so, this study not only enhances our understanding of the impact of the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia but also provides valuable guidance for future policy and strategy development in the country