Study of the Social and Cultural Aspects of Saudi Tourists and Evaluate the Services Provided to Tourist of Saudi-An Applied Study for the Tourism Sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The current study is based on the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia. Kingdom‟s tourism industry earnings from international travelers and tourism services are poised to hit SAR80 billion in 2015. The tourism industry in Saudi Arabia has witnessed an increasing level of growth in recent years and is seen to continue this trend moving forward. The industry has undergone a major transformation led by the commitment to upgrade the Kingdom‟s infrastructure as well as improving its hospitality sector. Religious tourism is the main attraction for inbound tourists and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, the government has taken steps to increase domestic tourism and persuade potential outbound tourists from vacationing abroad. However, large investment in the sector is required to bring these ambitious plans to fruition. The tourism sector comprises only 2% of government funding compared to the industrial sector. In this report random sampling was used as it is the best known form of probability sample. Pilot study was conducted by taking convenience sampling. To find the quantitative analysis SPSS 18.0 software is used. In this report factor analysis is used for the reliability test of the questionnaire. Chi-Square test is used for comparing the collected data with the desired data from the certain hypothesis on the other hand Pearson Correlation is used to measure means of a statistical test. The study evaluates the services provided to the tourist visiting the kingdom and at the same time it measures the satisfaction level of the tourists. The report is based on primary and secondary data for the primary data the questionnaire was used and being distributed to the tourists visiting the kingdom. Five hypothesis was proposed and are being analyzed using Chi – Square test and correlation test. The current study states that there are several variables, where excellent satisfaction is being rated by the tourists where as there are several factors where the authority needs to pay importance, which is mentioned in detail in this report. The outcome of this report also suggests some major policy recommendation by which convenience, excellence and comfort could be given to the tourists visiting the kingdom.


Introduction
Saudi Arabia continues to develop at a rapid pace.The remainder of the market considerable developments scheduled in tourism and experienced RevPAR growth of up to 21%.Throughout various sectors, supply and demand are growing in proportion to one another, which is reflected.The last quarter of 2011 started strong for Riyadh, with in sustained hotel performances; occupancies across the opening of the iconic Ritz-Carlton Riyadh adding 493 kingdom (apart from Al Jubail) experienced year-on-year rooms to the city"s inventory.Arabia is expected to be fueled by US$80 billion worth.With increased spending by the government over the next of investment in key infrastructure, such as airports and five years, the total investment during this time is estimated hotels.In the near to midterm, Saudi Arabia is expected at US$385 billion and focused primarily on education, to open almost 24,000 new hotel rooms and serviced health and infrastructure.A rapidly expanding population apartments, with extensive megaprojects under progress makes Saudi Arabia one of the more attractive consumer throughout the city that will generate demand for this new markets in the region and, coupled with the increase supply.In disposable incomes in recent years, it will continue to feed demand for infrastructure and other services such as housing, health, technology, education and, most development pipeline-East important travel and tourism.The focus of the study determines the factors affecting the tourism industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Specifically, this study investigates the extent of the social and cultural factors, evaluation of the services provided to Saudi tourists, Measure satisfaction with tourists around the tourist sites and the services provided therein and the role of the media in highlighting aspects of tourism in the Kingdom.Tourism industry is one of the most important economic development factors in many countries, but many problems accompany today"s structure of tourism in many developing countries as the question arises as to whether the development of domestic tourism could be a supplement to existing tourism and an economic and socially healthier alternative to its further expansion (Seckelmann, 2002).It is common knowledge that in many countries domestic tourism is dominant with respect to international flows in terms of both size and economic contribution (Massidda, and Etzo, 2012).In spite of that, only recently researchers have started to concentrate on this phenomenon and its economic impact, as well as on its potential for reducing disparities in less developed world areas.Few publications such as edited works by Ghimire (2001) ; Harrison (2001) were initial attempts on domestic tourism since they typically concentrated on "less developed countries" and "developing countries", respectively.Other individual works pertaining to domestic tourism focused on the development and features of domestic tourism in different countries.The reasons for such a dearth of literature on this topic are usually attributed to a paucity of hard and reliable data, which in turn, reflects serious issues namely lack of concurrence on a certain standard criteria, multifaceted colloquial terminology and contrasting socio-cultural contexts (Crick, 1989;Singh, 2009).It also follows that study on the determinants of tourist choices within national borders are still rare and mainly concentrate on the impact of economic variables (Massidda, and Etzo, 2012).It also follows that study on the determinants of tourist choices within national borders are still rare and mainly concentrate on the impact of economic variables (Massidda, and Etzo, 2012).Lim, (1997) similarly argues that the literature on domestic tourism determinants moves along the lines suggested by international tourism flow studies.

Review Literature
In Middle-East region, the literature lacks substantial studies on domestic tourism because the region is regarded as "one of the least developed tourism regions of the world" where leisure is rare and often seen as "culturally undesirable and economically unnecessary" (Sharpley, 2002).The Middle-East recorded 24.1 million arrivals in 2002, only 3.4 percent of the world"s total, although this compares with 9 million in 1990, there was an average annual growth rate of 9.7 percent throughout the 1990s (WTO, 2002).In the last ten years, the region has become one of the fast-growing tourist destinations in the world and has in possession various world-class tourist attractions (UNWTO, 2006).In countries such as UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, tourism is being considered as a driving force that leads to progress and development.Several factors have influenced the boom of tourism in the region such as flourishing economy and support from national governments (UNWTO, 2006).In Saudi Arabia, religious tourism is very important due to the location of the two holiest sites in Islam-Makkah and Madinah.40 percent of the total numbers of inbound trips in 2011 were for religious purposes, followed by visiting friends and relatives (20.5%), and business visits (14.2%).On the other hand, 45.4 percent of the total domestic trips were leisure trips, and religious purposes (23%) and visiting friends and relatives (22%) ranked second and third, respectively (MAS, 2012).Domestic tourism has been and will remain the primary focus of tourism development policy in the Kingdom.Although domestic tourism has traditionally been seasonal, the government is drawing full attention to its development to retain a larger portion of tourism spending for the national tourism industry (Eturbonews, 2011).According to a report by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), domestic tourism in Saudi Arabia is expected to record phenomenal growth rates with the total income to reach 19.5 billion in 2010 and 27.5 billion USD in 2020 (Eturbonews, 2011).To spur the growth, tourism authorities are persuading locals to holiday at home by establishing luxury hotels, high quality resorts and developing various destinations in the country.The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) estimates that domestic tourism will be increased substantially due to huge investments in tourism infrastructure and emerging new attractions to cater for different market segments.The Saudi tourism industry also aims to raise the level of tourist expenditure through qualitative improvements to the product portfolio and diversify the range of tourism products and services.In a related development, SCTA supports a number of summer festivals in different parts of the country as events and tourism festivals have the ability to generate tourism demand and promote domestic tourism (Saudi Gazette, 2011).
Saudi Arabia originally devoted little attention to conventional international leisure tourism for a combination of social, political and economic reasons.The Central role of religious tourism must be stressed, however, with over a million travelling annually for Hajj (Aziz, 1995) which requires a massive organizational effort by the authorities a report from Travel and Tourism Intelligence, 1997.
Saudi Arabia is aggressively pushing the development of its tourist industry.The secretary general of the Tourism Higher Authority (THA) boldly predicted that Saudi Arabia would have 45.3 million tourists in 2020.
Presently the THA has embarked on an aggressive expansion of tourist facilities.An estimated 4.8 million tourists came to Saudi Arabia in 1999, generating receipts of more than US$1.4 billion.The World Tourism Organization estimated that in 2004 Saudi Arabia received 8.6 million visitors who spent a combined total of US$6.5 billion.
The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca which all Muslims are expected to make, if their circumstances permit, at least once in a life time.Umrah also involves a visit undertaken on numerous occasions.Those on the Hajj and Umrah together accounted for 3.6 million of the 6.3 million tourists in 2000 and almost half of tourism expenditure.In comparison, business and conferences travel constituted 17% of spending while the proportions for VFR and vacation or leisure were 18% and 2% respectively (Mintel, 2002).
There will be spin-off benefits in the wider economy and tourism could boost revenue in the communication a housing sectors by between 20% and 25% (ITP, 2003).Although support for the tourism industry has been limited, Saudi Arabia was a leading Middle East destination by the beginning of the new millennium when it was drawing 27.1% of regional tourists and 29% of receipts (WTO, 2002).Domestic tourists were also a significant sector with about 14.5 million participants annually (Mintel, 2002).
Tourism is now Saudi Arabia"s third largest in industry after energy and manufacturing, and has recently emerged as the second most important in terms of foreign exchange earnings and job creation.In 2001 tourism contributed US$9.6 billion or 5.6% of GDP and employed 489,000 people.By 2029, revenue from the tourism industry could exceed SR86 billion (US$22.93 billion).(Khan 2003) At present, only 10.5% of the jobs in Mecca and Medina are taken up by Saudi national and the Secretary General of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) would like to see this increased to 70% or more (Kirby, 2003) According to Mintel report (Mintel, 2002:3) describes Saudi Arabia as possessing much unrealized potential and "outstanding cultural, heritage and natural sites".It cites the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Mecca as examples.Madain Salah is said to surpass the huge rock tombs of Petra and Al-Jouf is home to antiquities linked to the origins of the Nabatean and Assyrian cultures.Seddon and Khoja, 2003 noted that many well-known landmarks have given way to development projects as part of the drive towards modernization, thereby reducing the country"s attractiveness as a tourist center.Wildlife reserves are also under threat, despite a policy of public exclusion which needs to be revised if ecotourism opportunities are to be maximized (Seddon, 2000).
Saudi Arabia, religious tourism is very important due to the location of the two holiest sites in Islam-Makkah and Madinah.40 percent of the total numbers of inbound trips in 2011 were for religious purposes, followed by visiting friends and relatives (20.5%), and business visits (14.2%).On the other hand, 45.4 percent of the total domestic trips were leisure trips, and religious purposes (23%) and visiting friends and relatives (22%) ranked second and third, respectively (MAS, 2012).
Based on Passport Department statistics, tourist travel abroad for all purposes by Saudi residents in (1999) was 4.6 million, while expenditure was estimated by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) at SR19.7 billion.It is understood that the SAMA figures relate only to transactions through Saudi banks.Substantial further expenditure on travel is made by cash, foreign credit cards, and foreign bank accounts and from assets held abroad.It is expected that total expenditure on foreign travel greatly exceed the SAMA figures.Further research is underway to estimate the total outflows and expenditure on foreign travel.
The growth of the international tourism sector in GCC countries is embedded in the general strategy of economic diversification and the re-development of post-oil economies.Sharjah was the first emirate in the UAE to adopt a tourism development strategy in the mid-70s, albeit one that uniquely focused on developing particularistic forms of cultural tourism.Bahrain replaced Beirut as the regional hub of international banking and financial services.During the 70s and 80s, the region developed an extended infrastructure of hotels and meeting facilities to satisfy the demands of the oil business; facilitated by the construction industry which laid the pathway to a buoyant and attractive service sector industry (Al-Hamarneh, A. and Stephenson, M., 2011).

Research Methodology
To achieve the objectives of the research referred to earlier has been relying on a mixture of research strategies office and field, descriptive and analytical commensurate with the nature of the data required for this research.The research is framed within the structure, using a large, multi-resource literature review complemented by conceptual diagrams and interviews.The literature review is used to understand broad concepts within the Saudi tourism.Questionnaire is used to collect the primary data from the respondents.The questionnaire includes the general data tothe study sample, and the basic dataincludes the factors responsible to increase tourism in Saudi Arabia. .The questionnaire was distributed to a sample of tourists" places inSaudi Arabia.Cronbacha"s Alpha test, Chi-Square Test and Pearson Correlation analytical methods are used using SPSS program.Interview was conducted from the tourists visiting the country.

Research Gaps
 Although there are several studies that focused on tourism at Saudi and economic implication but focused to the evaluation of the service provided.The study focus on the evaluation of the services provided to the tourists visiting the kingdom.
 Secondly this study will use triangulation approach such as observation, interview and questionnaire.

Formulation of Research Hypothesis
H1: The choice of tourist"s destination is dependent on occupation.
H2: The choice of tourist"s destination is dependent on age-group.
H3: The purpose of visit is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile.
H4: The frequency of visit is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile.
H5: The average money spent per day is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile.
H6: The stay of visitors is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile.

Data Collection
In order to collect the primary data required for the research, this study adopted investigation and primary analysis in procedural and structured manner.By means of such process researcher was able to influence future research process (Bryman and Bell, 2007).Questionnaire approach for gathering primary information such as experts opinions, past studies, undertake pilot study, evaluate validity using cronabch"s alpha test.Meanwhile the questionnaire approach was also executed for assessing tourist"s attitude regarding tourism at Saudi Arabia.The primary data and information for the study are collected by means of questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.Following section describes the research tools implemented in the study.For obtaining information related to the attitude of tourists towards Kingdom, the researcher adopted LIKERT scale in the study.The LIKERT scale adopted in the study consists of five rankings based on which the respondents have to answer the questionnaire.The five ranges included in the Likert scale are "STRONGLY AGREE, AGREE, NEUTRAL, DISAGREE, STRONGLY DISAGREE".It is argued by Dundas (2004) that Likert scale has the competence to provide the questionnaire approach to distinguish various attitude levels and make the approach to be effective.

Sampling
Generally the probability sampling technique is preferred in the survey which is based on the research strategies (Saunders et al., 2003).The sampling method which is appropriate should be decided.
Random sampling was used in this study since it is the best known form of probability sample and selects educators without showing bias for any personal characteristics (Barbie, 2001).In random sampling each element has an equal chance of selection independent of any other event in the selection process.(Barbie, 2001:175).707 respondents was be selected randomly

Target Area
The study is conducted in Saudi Arabia in Makkah and Madina region.

Size of the sample: Participant mix
Determination of sample size is an important task in order to ensure that chosen population is a representative of the study population.According to Kerlinger (1996) sampling is a process in which a portion of the total study population is chosen ensuring them to be the representative of the entire study population.For calculating the minimum sample population size, Saunders et al. (2003) formulated a formula which is given as follows: The formula of Saunders et al. (2003) decides the range of the least sample.Total Sample selected = 706

Results and Discussion
Z-score was used to transform the ordinal data and mean and standard deviation were used to express the summary statistics, while the frequencies and percentage was in case of all categorical variables such as gender, occupation, etc, both nominal and ordinal.The non-parametric chi-square test of independence was used to test the dependence of two variables such income and occupation, etc, and all test were two-tailed, tested at α=5% level of significance.Factor Analysis was done to understand the visitors" satisfaction criteria.Suitable graphs were used to help aid in statistical reporting.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version21.0).

Tourist Profile
The table below suggests that the most preferred visit destination is Abha followed by Makkah.Null Hypothesis: The stay of visitors is independent of the visitors" occupational profile Alternative Hypothesis: The stay of visitors is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile.The table below shows the Mean Z-Score of the Likert Scale of each parameter within each variable, where in the positive average Z-Score infers that the respondents comprising of all groups, on the average (majority) have replied in affirmative or are satisfied as marked in the table below, and the negative infers that the respondents comprising of all groups, on the average (majority) have replied in negative or are dissatisfied.

Conclusion
In Saudi Arabia, religious tourism is very important due to the location of the two holiest sites in Islam-Makkah and Madinah.40 percent of the total numbers of inbound trips in 2011 were for religious purposes.The government is drawing full attention to its development to retain a larger portion of tourism spending for the national tourism industry.We can see increase in domestic tourism in recent years.Currently Saudi Arabia is planning to invest more on tourism of Saudi Arabia.The kingdom"s tourism industry, which is dominated by pilgrims and business travelers, has experienced a rise in religious tourists after the visa policy was relaxed.The government is expanding the international airports to serve more passengers.It is also said that that the demand for the younger population, and this is a major market will also increase.
This research study was conducted on seven hundred and six randomly selected Visitors visiting Saudi Arabia, and the data was collected by structured questionnaire in order to understand the drivers of the vibrant Saudi Tourism.The respondents" demographic profile is as follows: the respondents were in almost in the age-group of 18 to 60 plus, where majority were in the age-group of 31-50.Further, most travelers were found to be married.The middle-income groups were the found to most visitors, and were in the income-bracket of less than 10,000 SR, constituting almost 414(58.54%).Most of the travelers were not found to be highly educated, as majority were below undergraduates travel most to Saudi Arabia, which are 471(66.71%).On the basis of occupational profile, Makkah& Madinah are the favorite tourist destination for the students while Abha is the most favored destination for the rest type of visitors.The government employees were found to be the most frequent travelers` to Saudi Arabia.
The research objective was to study the purpose of visiting Saudi Arabia, and it was found that the most favored reason is visiting friends and relatives, followed by religious aspect, treatment visit and business development.
Therefore, Saudi has family visitors and religious tourists were most frequent visitors (visiting more than four times) and spending on an average in the range of 0-5,000 Saudi Riyal.
After analyzing the hypothesis we could have analyzed that tourist"s destination is dependent on occupation, whereas destination is independent of its age-group.We can also find that the purpose of visit is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile; the report also suggests that the average money spent per day is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile whereas the stay of visitors is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile.
When evaluated on the satisfaction parameter, we found that they impressed by Saudi hospitality, meaning friendly environment and supportive people, convenience in communication, restaurant and accommodation services and especially the government support to ensure that there is no lag in government activities for tourists.
Policy Recommendation: There are certain parameters where the tourists were not satisfied and the initiative should be made to increase the comfort and satisfaction level of the tourists visiting the country.
1.The government transport system within the city of Makkah and Madinah should be made available.Like government bus services should be made available for the tourist to commute Haram from their hotels.Moreover railway facility in Saudi Arabia is still lagging.The only mode of intercity communication is either flight or bus services (government & private).Flight services are more convenient but are expensive for the middle and lower income group tourists whereas bus service is cheap but it is more tiring and time consuming.Connecting major cities with railway will not only reduce the cost to the tourists but will also give comfort to them.
2. It is also seen that most of the tourist who visit kingdom are international travelers who do not know Arabic as a language of communication.So during Hajj and Umra season they often face difficulties in communication with government personals.It is strongly recommended that a separate cell should be made to guide and assist the tourists visiting the kingdom.The personal in the cell should be comfortable in communication in major two languages including English and Arabic.
3. Medical facility is another area of concern.Hospitals and dispensaries are available in almost every part of the kingdom.But still tourist does not find ease to locate the dispensary.Hence it is also recommended that dispensary signage should be made available at various locations so in case emergency the patients can easily visit to the hospitals and dispensary.Medical facility should also be highlighted at airports and bus stations.
4. During Hajj duration hygiene is another area of concern.Though it is difficult but it should be taken into account for the proper cleanliness of the environment.
5. The use biodegradable packaging material should be encouraged and poly packs should be discouraged.
6. Recycling of the beverage bottles should be taken into account so the wastage of the bottle will be minimized.

Table 1 .
The different sampling techniques adopted during the stages in the research

Table 2 .
Preferred Citied for Tourism

Table 4 .
Age-Groups distribution of the touristsNull Hypothesis: The choice of tourist"s destination is independent of its age-group Alternative Hypothesis: The choice of tourist"s destination is dependent on is age-group.

Table 5 .
Occupation distribution of the tourists with respect to cities Null Hypothesis: The choice of tourist"s destination is independent of its occupation Alternative Hypothesis: The choice of tourist"s destination is dependent on is occupation.

Table 6 .
The reasons for choosing Saudi Arabia for tourism Null Hypothesis: The purpose of visit is independent of the visitors" occupational profile

Table 7 .
Distribution of the visiting frequency occupation-wiseNull Hypothesis: The frequency of visit is independent of the visitors" occupational profile Alternative Hypothesis: The frequency of visit is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile.

Table 8 .
The average amount of money spent per day Null Hypothesis: The average money spent per day is independent of the visitors" occupational profile Alternative Hypothesis: The average money spent per day is dependent on the visitors" occupational profile.

Table 9 .
The Mean Z-Score of the Likert Scale of each parameter within each variable