Motivations and attitudes toward domestic tourism in Saudi Arabia

Beginning with the establishment of a Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities' (SCTA) in 2000, there have been official attempts by the government of Saudi Arabia to encourage domestic tourism in order to tap into the huge amounts that Saudis spend annually on vacations. This paper examines the motivations and attitudes of consumers toward tourism destinations and activities within the country (domestic tourism). Using data collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire, the study finds that familiarity and trust of the local environment, perceptions of the safer domestic environment, and limitations imposed by respondents' vacation timing are the primary motives for choosing to spend their vacations locally, while lack of quality domestic tourist sites and services (including entertainment facilities), lack of tourism information, insufficient tourism organization services, and the harsh local environmental conditions during summer are factors that `push' people from spending the vacations locally. Attitudes toward domestic tourism are generally negative, although there are significant differences in attitudes between respondents who prefer domestic destinations and those who prefer to travel out of Kingdom. Implications of the findings are outlined and discussed.