Comparing AlUla and The Red Sea Saudi Arabia’s Giga Projects on Tourism towards a Sustainable Change in Destination Development

Abstract

This paper examines architecture for tourism, focusing on destination design. In the past forty years, tourism destinations and their impact have been affected and transformed by emerging topics such as the impact of social media and the necessity of sustainable indicators in the tourism industry. In the global panorama of ongoing tourism transformations, Saudi Arabia has recently established new governmental opening regulations that started in 2019 for visitors and tourist visa entry. The country is facing a rapidly transforming economy, and new destinations for tourism will impact the country’s growth in the coming years as part of the Sustainable Destination Program in alignment with the ambitious targets of the Saudi National Vision 2030. The adopted methodology of the study compares selected parameters of two significant Saudi Arabian case studies, AlUla and The Red Sea Project (TRSP), for the ongoing sustainable tourism destination development of planned tourist giga projects. According to the findings, AlUla and TRSP demonstrated an intense commitment to sustainable tourism through their efforts concerning protected areas, environmentally friendly transport, and significant rewilding and reforestation. The research’s conclusion emphasizes Saudi Arabia’s commitment to innovative thinking, long-term growth, and sustainable tourism. The study’s implication is primarily suited for destination design; it suggests potential applicability even in smaller-scale tourism development projects or additional comparisons in sustainability design approaches in diverse contexts, particularly in the MENA region.

Community Attachment to AlUla Heritage Site and Tourists’ Green Consumption: The Role of Support for Green Tourism Development

“…Previously, this city was famous as the entrance gateway for the merchandise troops traveling from south to north in the Arabic Peninsula [50,51]. Geologically, the city has an oasis and a huge valley, allocated between sandstone highlands (mountains) with exceptional arithmetic shapes [52]. AlUla has fifty-five heritage sites from various eras; Mada'in Salih was one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, registered in 2008.…”

“…As a case study, AlUla is a popular tourist destination with a remarkable historical and archaeological heritage that led to its designation as Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO site [89]. The landscape, sandstone mountains along an oasis accompanying the ancient trade routes, and carved tombs in the mountains by the ancient Nabataean civilization make AlUla a unique heritage site [52].…”