Revamping Entertainment in Saudi Arabia An Exploration of the Perceptions and Attitudes of Saudis Toward Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s Innovative General Entertainment Authority (GEA)

Abstract

Saudi Arabia has a long Islamic tradition, which pervades the country’s personal as well as political spheres. The current government has embarked on a process of liberalisation in an attempt to return Saudi Arabia to a moderate form of Islam. Part of the social and economic reform package is the creation of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) to facilitate and promote secular entertainment, a significant departure from the largely religion-based events that have dominated the Saudi leisure and tourism sector. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the GEA, the extent to which the Saudi populace approves or disapproves of it, the level of success it has obtained in its stated aims of bringing world-class entertainment to Saudis of all walks of life, the extent to which its offerings reflect Saudis’ values and aspirations, and the associated implications for its sustainability as a political and social reform model. Thus, this study explores the perceptions and attitudes of Saudi people to the GEA along with the factors that contribute to them. The study used a range of theories under the umbrella of the cognitive–affective–behaviour model and analysed data from in-depth interviews using frequency counts, pattern matching, and holistic case analyses, subjected to a semiotic process to uncover signs of emotional content, such as the way in which the respondent spoke or reacted, the kinds of words used, whether the respondent laughed etc. It was found that participants’ self-identity was complex, with a multidimensional spectrum of liberal to conservative positions, which influenced their perceptions of the GEA. The other contributing factors, such as travel motivations, were interrelated in a complex web. Overall, negative impressions of the GEA exceeded positive ones, which continue to be shaped by emotional responses. The GEA appears to have failed to win over the more religiously conservative Saudis and to gain their acceptance of the liberalisation process. The benefits of the GEA events and the liberalisation do not appear to have been realised by all Saudis, and events were perceived to be too expensive for middle- and low-income earners. Some theories, such as the empowerment theory apply, but would need to be modified to suit the Saudi setting in order to provide useful predictions. Notably, the present study is exploratory and limited, but may be considered a starting point for greater understanding of the events industry and its role in Saudi society