Motivation for domestic tourism: a case study of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

In Saudi Arabia there is a growing amount of leisure time and a high percentage of disposable income is being spent on various forms of tourism; such trends have increased the number of Saudis travelling to tourist destinations, internationally or domestically. Spending the annual holiday away from Saudi is normal for most Saudi families and it is estimated that the total expenditure on domestic tourism in Saudi Arabia is only 16.7% of total tourism expenditure. International expenditure was estimated (in 1995) to be US$ 7.6 million US$ and this increased to more than US$ 8.2 million in 1997 which is about 17.3% of total oil revenue estimated in 1998 and nearly 5.6% of the Saudi gross domestic product. Consequently, foreign tourism is a substantial drain on the current account, so the government has been trying to persuade more of its citizens to holiday at home. This situation will require tourism marketer to understand fully the need of tourists. Under increasingly competitive conditions, effective tourism marketing is impossible with out an understanding of tourists' motivation to choose a Saudi travel destination.The purpose of this study is to describe and analyse the status of domestic tourism motivation. The research took place in Saudi Arabia, concentrating on the motivation

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