Moss, JonathanAlbalawi, Nouf2024-07-142024-07-142024-05-10https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14154/72586The third-largest industry in the world, tourism benefits the host country in several ways, including by bringing in foreign exchange, investing in new infrastructure and hospitality, creating jobs, fostering industrial development, and bolstering the tourism-led economic growth model. Countries rich in hydrocarbons, like Saudi Arabia, have tried to use tourism to diversify their economies. The nation aims to welcome 150 million tourists with the introduction of Vision 2030. Saudi Vision 2030's tourism pillar must be achieved within a limited timeframe, and the country must contend with formidable regional competitors in the field of visitor attraction. The nation has launched a programme to connect sports and tourism to address this issue. The goal of this study is to investigate how major athletic event hosting affects tourist flows. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate if major sports events are thought to affect Saudi Arabia's tourism flows. Using structured surveys, this research finds that hosting major sporting events attracts visitors to Saudi Arabia who might not have come otherwise, compete with neighbours, and compensate for the dearth of tourist-oriented infrastructure in the nation. Further, the results show that large-scale sporting events are positively and significantly correlated with more employment and income prospects backed by both domestic and foreign investment. The results find that Saudi citizens and residents have a high and favourable feel-good effect before, during, and for a while after. Additionally, the impact on tourism flows increases with the duration of sporting events. The findings demonstrate that major sporting events in Saudi Arabia facilitate cross-cultural interactions without adversely affecting the cultural character of the host country. The evidence against the environmental impact is less compelling, and this research finds no evidence of social negative externalities. Whilst this research does not refute the hypothesis that major sporting events do not have a detrimental influence on the environment it nevertheless finds that Saudi citizens believe that the regulatory framework needs to be strengthened. Finally, this study finds a favourable correlation between major sporting events and coverage in traditional and social media, which in turn generates more tourist traffic.96eneventssport eventstourismeconomic impact of sports eventsThesis