Tourism development at the Al-Hijr Archaeological Site, Saudi Arabia: SME sentiments and emerging concerns

被引:5
作者
Alahmadi, Abdulmohsen [1 ]
Butler, Gareth [1 ,2 ]
Szili, Gerti [3 ]
机构
[1] Flinders Univ S Australia, Dept Tourism & Events, Bedford Pk, SA, Australia
[2] Univ Johannesburg, Fac Management, Johannesburg, South Africa
[3] Flinders Univ S Australia, Dept Geog, Bedford Pk, SA, Australia
关键词
Al-Hijr; heritage tourism; tourism development; stakeholder; community engagement; sustainability; WORLD HERITAGE SITE; COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION; SUSTAINABLE TOURISM; UNESCO; PERSPECTIVE; MANAGEMENT; RESIDENTS; IMPACTS;
D O I
10.1080/1743873X.2022.2078214
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
02 ;
摘要
This study was designed to investigate the impacts of tourism development at the Al-Hijr Archaeological Site, Saudi Arabia. Al-Hijr was inscribed as the country's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 but received little attention as a tourist destination until the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy in 2016, which positioned heritage tourism sites as important catalysts in the long-term transition to a post-oil economy. Via the implementation of semi-structured interviews with local tourism SME owners and senior managers between January and February 2020, several exploratory observations were made. According to study participants, who typically framed the impacts of tourism development from the perspective of their local communities as well as those of businesses, the genesis of tourism had presented several paradoxes. Whilst the UNESCO listing helped foster community support for tourism due to new economic opportunities, the opening of Al-Hijr to international tourists and the proposed scale of development proposals raised numerous concerns, including fears of 'cultural erosion' and unsustainable growth. This paper therefore positions itself as an important and novel step in identifying local SME stakeholder perspectives on embryonic tourism development at Al-Hijr and offers recommendations to mitigate emerging concerns.
引用
收藏
页码:533 / 547
页数:15
相关论文
共 60 条
[2]   Top-down sustainable urban development? Urban governance transformation in Saudi Arabia [J].
Aina, Yusuf A. ;
Wafer, Alex ;
Ahmed, Fethi ;
Alshuwaikhat, Habib M. .
CITIES, 2019, 90 :272-281
[3]  
Al-Kwifi O S., 2020, Journal of Transnational Management, V25, P3, DOI DOI 10.1080/15475778.2019.1682769
[4]  
Al-Mohmmad S, 2021, TOUR HOSP MANAG-CROA, V27, P669, DOI [10.20867/thm.27.3.11, 10.20867/thm.27.3.5]
[5]   Management issues and challenges of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Saudi Arabia [J].
Al-Tokhais, Abdulelah ;
Thapa, Brijesh .
JOURNAL OF HERITAGE TOURISM, 2020, 15 (01) :103-110
[6]   Heritage tourist experience, nostalgia, and behavioural intentions [J].
Ali, Faizan .
ANATOLIA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH, 2015, 26 (03) :472-475
[7]   Urbanization in Saudi Arabia and sustainability challenges of cities and heritage sites: heuristical insights [J].
Alqahtany, Ali ;
Aravindakshan, Sreejith .
JOURNAL OF CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, 2022, 12 (04) :408-425
[8]  
[Anonymous], 2021, ARAB NEWS 0726
[9]  
[Anonymous], 2020, International Tourism highlights, 2020 edition, DOI DOI 10.18111/9789284422456
[10]   Communicating the stakeholder engagement process: A cross-country analysis in the tourism sector [J].
Antonio, Iazzi ;
Simone, Pizzi ;
Lea, Iaia ;
Mario, Turco .
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, 2020, 27 (04) :1642-1652