EXPLORING THE ROLE OF SPORTS CELEBRITIES’S ENDORSEMENT ON IMPROVING TOURISM DESTINATION IMAGE: EVIDENCE FROM SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Introduction Saudi Arabia's financial development has been subordinated to its oil income. Nevertheless, with Vision 2030, the nation has aimed to diversify its economy through considering reliance on tourism sector. Sports celebrity endorsements are one of the proposed methods of how the country could improve its tourism image. Well-known competitors like Christiano Ronaldo might possibly support Saudi Arabia’s brand image as a destination for tourism. However, there is limited literature about the level to which stakeholders could benefit from celebrities, mainly in the sports sector, to improve the brand image of the country as a tourism destination. To fill this research gap, this study analyses the adequacy of these supports and provides recommendations to boost the country's tourism industry. Literature Review The literature review applies Aaker’s Brand Equity Theory to examine the ways in which sports celebrity endorsements could shape the tourism destination image. This theory identifies brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, and brand association as crucial elements. However, its weaknesses include the rigid nature of brand assets and the assumption that brand associations are always positive. Then, the literature review showed that there are three factors (i.e., Reliability of the Celebrity, Cultural Congruence, Visibility and social media) that influence the effectiveness of sports celebrities in tailoring the tourism destination image reliability of the celebrity which is about encompassing trustworthiness, expertise and appeal; cultural congruence which involves aligning the celebrity's image with the destination's cultural values. In regard to visibility and social media, the literature indicated that such a factor illuminates the existence of a strong social media presence to enhance engagement and awareness. After that, the literature chapter underlined barriers to the effectiveness of celebrities’ endorsements. These barriers include misalignment between destination brand and celebrity image which could trigger negative perceptions. Another problem is related to overexposure of the celebrity as such issue could cause audience fatigue and reduce effectiveness. An additional barrier was scandals or negative publicity which would damage the credibility of both the celebrity and the endorsed destination. Next, the literature review mentioned that due to the mixed results in the literature and due to the unique context of Saudi Arabia, it is necessary to conduct a study to gather data about the factors that can contribute/or restrict the role of sports celebrities in supporting country’s brand image about tourism. Methodology With a qualitative method and an interpretive approach, this review attempted to discover the part of sports celebrities' support in publicizing Saudi Arabia's tourism picture. An inductive approach was utilized to conduct a semi-structured interview with 10 members, of which participants were showcasing experts as well as industry specialists in the Saudi tourism segment. Being chosen through a purposive sampling technique on the premise of their skill, members comprised essential expertise in the scenario evaluation. Open-ended interviews containing seven questions were utilized to get knowledge with respect to the adequacy and challenges of using sports celebrity support. The collected textual data was analyszd through the thematic analysis method in arrange to recognise repeating subjects and designs inside the information. Moreover, ethical considerations were discussed in this chapter. Findings The analysis of the interviews identified three key thematic arguments. Firstly, the Impact of Scandals and Negative Publicity: The review found that a negative image of a celebrity or scandal news approximately is able to harm the brand and the picture of the destination genuinely and such a finding is compatible with the findings of (Wei, 2024). Sports celebrities may confront critical backfires and hurt the endeavors of the tourism division in the social traditionalist locale of Saudi Arabia. Respondents felt that celebrity support might go off-base on the off chance of getting entrapped with somebody who is afterward included in scandals. Secondly, Factors Manipulating the Efficiency of Sports Celebrity Endorsements: Dependable, public picture and permeability of the celebrity were considered critical components to get adequate support. The chances of a celebrity who has an excellent media existence, a tremendous public picture, and a self-evident social fit with the destination positively impact the picture of tourism. The endorsements had a gigantic impact from social media; celebrities can get millions of adherents straightforwardly to lock in with them and blow up the brand more efficiently. Thirdly, Encounters in Positioning Celebrity Personality with Destination Brand: The essential issue was the consistency of finding the celebrity persona that coordinated the brand and social values of the destination. Thus, in spite of the fact that celebrities, in common, are great endorsers for the destination, those that epitomize the destination’s values are more likely to relate to their target group of audience and thus be more compelling endorsers. Discussion Chapter 5 discusses the findings on the role of sports celebrity endorsements in enhancing Saudi Arabia's tourism destination image. It highlights the detrimental impact of negative publicity and scandals mainly in culturally sensitive contexts. As such, it indicates to the need for careful selection and management of celebrity endorsers. The discussion identifies key factors that influence endorsement effectiveness including celebrity reliability, visibility, and cultural congruence with the target audience. Challenges such as misalignment between celebrity personas and brand values, authenticity issues and audience trust are further examined. Additionally, the role of social media in amplifying celebrity influence and reaching diverse tourist segments is explored to underline its importance for engagement and campaign effectiveness. Conclusion This study concluded that carefully managed and in tune with Saudi Arabia's Eastern social values, sports celebrity support can increment the picture of Saudi Arabia as a tourism destination. Reliable celebrities with an excellent track record are socially consistent and have a solid media to offer Saudi Arabia an excellent tourism goal. In any case, the dangers of negative reputation and figuring of culminating coordination in identity between the celebrity embodied and the brand of the goal was raised. The reliance of the study on qualitative strategies would limit the generalization of the discoveries. Future research should utilise mixed research methods to pick up a total understanding of celebrity support.