The Role of Religious Tourism in the Economic Development of Saudi Arabian Kingdom - Research Proposal Example

Executive summary Tourism in Saudi Arabia is majorly based around religious pilgrimage. During the month of Hajj, Mecca receives over three million pilgrims annually, and around two million during the month of Ramadan in Umrah. In this regards, the religious tourism is taking center stage when taking about tourism in Saudi Arabia. Religious tourism has contributed much to the economic prosperity of Saudi Arabia at least to the extent in which it is appreciated and noticed. This study therefore undertakes an exploratory approach in trying to determine the importance of religious tourism to the development of Saudi Arabian economy. Primary data will be obtained through 150 questionnaires that will be sent to various stakeholders within the tourism industry. This will include; 50 government representative respondents, 30 hotel managers, 50 private investors in the tourism sector and 20 religious leaders. Secondary data will be retrieved from the database of The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and the government’s bureau of statistics. In trying to do that, the study uses a sequential explanatory mixed methods case study approach, a cross-section of management team in tourism sector will be surveyed to determine their opinion towards the role of Islamic tourism in economic development of Saudi Arabia Kingdom. A survey questionnaire will be used to collect the primary data after SPSS and E-view will be used to analyze the data. The secondary data will be retrieved from the database of Commission of Tourism and Antiquities in the Kingdom. The result of the survey will be used to answer several questions of the study and to meet the objectives of the study. It is worth noting that the results of the study will be presented to various stakeholders within the tourism sector to help improve the status of religious tourism of the country. Executive Summary.................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 3 Research Problem ............................................................................................................. 3 Relevant Research Contexts.............................................................................................. 4 Brief Literature Review .................................................................................................... 10 Paradigm Guiding Assumptions to be adopted ................................................................ 14 Research objectives and Questions to be addressed................................................................................ 15 Research Design ........................................................................................................................ 16 Overall Research Plan ....................................................................................................... 16 Key Constructs & Measures for the Survey...................................................................... 17 Strengths & Limitations of the Proposal .............................................................................. 22 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 23 Appendix The role of religious tourism in the economic development of Saudi Arabian Kingdom INTRODUCTION This proposal sets out a plan for conducting a mixed methods investigation of a quantitative and qualitative study. The study will focus on primary data and secondary data relating to the religious tourism and its role in economic development of Saudi Arabia. The chief participants on the study are the management staff in various tourism organizations. Sequential explanatory mixed methods will be enhanced in the study to (1) determine, through the use of a cross-sectional survey and secondary data, several data showing the role that religious tourism has played in the economy of Saudi Arabia and (2) in depth qualitative interviews to expound on individual perspectives about the role of religious tourism in the economy of Saudi Arabia. Religious tourism is a type of tourism where individuals or groups travel purposefully for pilgrimage, leisure or missionary tourists. The largest form of mass religious tourism in the world takes place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia annually. Quite often, religious tourist journey to the religious destinations takes place during important events for specific religions. Previously considered a domestic affair, religious tourism has developed into a major international commercial service for several economies. Travel agencies offer diverse multi-faith journey packages that mainly focus on ancient place of worships, pilgrimage sites and sacred destinations that are linked to mainstream faiths. As mentioned above there has been tremendous growth in the religious tourism sector across the globe. This can be demonstrated by the fact that the World Religious Travel Associations (WRTA) held its first global trade and education conference in 2008. This global conference main objective was to reach out to the 300 million potential religious tourists, with exhibitors from more than 30 nations drawn from travel agencies and ecumenical communities. It is worth noting that globalization is the greatest influence on religious tourism to commercialization. Globalization has transformed religious tourism to a marketable economic product serving overlapping markets such as; spirituality, leisure activities, physical and mental health, culture and many more. Giving account to its demographic base, religious tourism holds a greater potential for fostering interfaith and economic development if well executed. In fact, if well harnessed, religious tourism can be an incredible economic development tool and an effective means of preserving and promoting cultural diversity. This proposal arose as a response to need to determine the significant role that religious tourism plays in the economic development of Saudi Arabian Economy. The brief was to provide a well-structured and planned proposal that could produce its outcomes and recommendations within 6 months to the relevant tourism stakeholders. The research will perform his/her role of administering the survey, analyzing the data and coming up within the relevant report of the study. Statement of the problem Islamic Tourism is considered one of the economic pillars in the developing countries like Saudi Arabia. On its part, Saudi Arabia is in the uptrend trying to develop its religious industry, with the secretary general of the Tourism Higher Authority (THA) confidently projecting that the country will host at least 45.3 million tourists in 2020. In 2011 alone, an estimated 4.8 million tourists visited the country and that resulted to estimated amount $ 1.4 billion additional funds to the GDP. In fact, the WTO estimated that Saudi Arabia received a total of 88 million visitors in 2020 resulting to a total of $7.5 billion. This is a significant addition to the GDP of Saudi Arabia. However, despite numerous efforts to develop Islamic tourism in Saudi Arabia, it is still a fact that the economic potential of Islamic tourism in Saudi Arabia has not been realized. In this regard, this paper tries to understand the role of Islamic tourism in the economic development in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 1.0. Relevant Research Contexts The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Overview Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that plays a vital role in the global economy due to its large oil production. The economy is basically dominated by oil, which generates all the fiscal revenue. The oil prices in the country drives inflation in addition to the debt and budget balance, hence it is appropriate to ascertain that the economy of Saudi Arabia depends on the evolution of the oil prices. Saudi Arabia recorded a current account surplus of 18% of its GDP in 2013. The GDP stands at US$ 670.652 billion by 2013. The country’s current account averaged 4.25% from 1980 to 2013 reaching an all-time low of -21% in 1991 and all-time high of 28.50% in 2005 as shown in figure 1. Saudi Arabia is characterized by basic Islam law that defines the political and economic structure of the Kingdom. According to the Basic Law, the king must comply with the Quran and Shari’ah. The country’s constitution constitutes the Quran and the Sunnah. The government is headed by the King who doubles as the commander in chief of the Saudi Arabian military. The royal family dominates the political systems hence they determine the rule and governance of the Kingdom. In July 2006, the population of Saudi Arabia was estimated to be 27,019,731, with an annual growth rate of 2.18%. According to the 2006 estimates, the country contains over 6 million non-nationals with approximately 100,000 foreigners entering the country annually mainly to search for employment opportunities. The most astonishing image of the economy emanates from the fact that wage earning per hour in the country was $59.99 per hour in 2009. The massive shift of the Saudi Arabia’s economy was actualized in 1973 when the revenue collection from oil amplified dramatically thus compelling the transfer of the Saudi Arabia’s economy from amongst the most pitiable to intrinsic high per capita incomes in the world. The economy suffered a down turn from 1982 to close to 1989 and the government had to conform to the new changes with restricting its budget to the most essential segments alone. These unprecedented economical variations created a quagmire that’s prompted the retrenchment of the expatriates only to be recruited back after the economy stabilized after the 1990s. The country enjoyed the expatriates who were natives of Egypt and South Africa majorly. At present, Saudi Arabia is ranked second out of 15 states in the Middle East/North Africa areas, and its general score is well above the world and local or regional averages. The social environment of the Saudi Arabia is majorly based on the Islamic rules and regulations. It therefore expected to have sharia laws guiding in financial institutions and solving of other numerous issues eminent in that economy. Islamic Tourism in Saudi Arabia Tourism in Saudi Arabia is majorly based around religious pilgrimage. During the month of Hajj, Mecca receives over three million pilgrims annually, and around two million during the month of Ramadan in Umrah. However, non-Muslims are not allowed to visit during these religious months. In this regard, there have been continued efforts by The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) to diversify the portfolio of visitors. These efforts have far shown a positive sign with the number of non-Muslim visitors increasing in 2012. The tourism sector is one of an important and future sector in Saudi Arabia. Just like other sectors of the Saudi Arabia’s economy, the tourism sector has been generally experienced dramatic growth. As mentioned above, this growth has been majorly to Islamic tourism both locally and internationally. For instance in 2014, the number of Islamic tourists’ arrivals to Saudi Arabia from GCC countries have realized an increase of 20% as compared to the same period in 2013. The growth of the religious tourism sector in Saudi Arabia is not homogenous as compared to the other sectors. It is worth noting that Islamic tourism in Saudi Arabia is also characterized by a stable local tourism that promotes the growth of the tourism sector in the country. For example, last year the number of tourists to Saudi Arabia increased by 10% to 16.7 million. This figure is in inclusive of an increase of 7.5% of local tourist. The increase in the number of local and international religious tourism in Saudi Arabia is attributed to the relaxed rules and regulations that were previously hampering the freedom of touring the Kingdom. According to the main economic theory of developing countries, Saudi Arabia properly fits in this classification. That is, religious tourism expenditure has a positive impact in the economic development of Saudi Arabia. Tourism sector contributes 75 billion riyals to the Saudi Arabian economy, or 2.7 per cent of GDP. It is no doubt that spending by religious groups that come to the country during religious festivals have contributed significantly to the income of the Kingdom. This will help to solve the problems associated with the negative balance of payment. Religious tourism is considered a crucial source of income that is paving the way for the development of new professions and raising integration levels between different economic sectors. Tourism industry in Saudi Arabia promotes growth from behind the scenes hence playing an important role in promoting Saudi Arabian economy and representing an important source of its national income. The tourism sector is developing at an encouraging rate and there is a demand in the quality of tourism services that is putting more pressure not only in the tourism industry but also affiliated industries. In this regard, there have been several developments to help exploit the unrealized the potential of Saudi Arabia tourism industry. For instance, due to inadequate capacity, Airlines servicing Saudi Arabia were losing out on 2 million seats annually. However, this has since changed because of increased number of international and local airlines to service more passengers. For instance, thanks to increased tourism the King Khaled International Airport is Riyadh is being upgraded to a capacity of 35 million passengers annually from the current 17 million. The number of flights servicing the secondary cities such as Qassim, Tabuk and Abha are also being increased. There is also increased demand of tourism from the young population. This represents a major market for the tourism sector currently and in the future. The hotel industry have also realized upsurge due to developments in the tourism sector. Several hotels are being constructed both in urban and rural areas to accommodate the number of visitors visiting the country. These two examples are clear illustrations of how Islamic tourism applies the multiplier effect to influence several sectors within the Saudi Arabian economy. The Saudi Arabian government has been a major stakeholder in the development of Islamic Tourism sector. Apart from the earlier support of the industry, the government is planning further expansion in travel and tourism to allow 88 million visitors by 2020. This target is being accommodated through upgrade of regulations and sectors that are related to Islamic tourism. In addition, the government is offering easy loans and facilities to developers to tourism in Saudi Arabia. In a more specific concept, real estate investments in the Kingdom’s hotels in Mecca are expected to exceed $3.2 billion. This is complemented with the Harrams expansion in Madina and Mecca; other supporting facilities are also in development process such as the Jabal Omar Development. This development will accommodate up to 100,000 people in 15,000 luxury hotels rooms, 500 restaurants, 4,000 shops and one six-storey prayer hall accommodating 65,000 worshipers. This project and several others will positively enhance travel and tourism in Saudi Arabia. Several factors influence tourism development in Saudi Arabia as follows: Economic factors This being an external environmental factor directly affects the growth rate of this industry. The favorable and stable economic conditions of Saudi Arabia have been vital in encouraging tourism. The price stability and higher income generated by the petroleum and oil sector have promoted tourism growth. Stable economic growth and the fact that Saudi Arabia is one the fastest growing economy increases the number of business tourism activities Socio-Cultural Factors Saudi Arabia offers a number of cultural exhibitions and events that are very attractive and entertaining to the tourist. The mountains, red sea beaches and valleys are known for some of the world’s finest diving and attraction to tourists. Mecca city that receives several tourists during the month of Hajj. Technological factors Technologically, Saudi Arabia is well placed as it uses modern and advanced technologies that include aircrafts and modern telecommunications facilities in tourism. Modern transport and communication vessels and facilities that increase the access even to the remote areas. The hotels and other facilities in Saudi Arabia are fitted with modern technological facilities, hence making them satisfactory to the tourists. Organizational Capacity of the Tourism Sector The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities has promoted tourism in Saudi Arabia by advertising and marketing it globally. The growing number of business tourist owing to the favorable economic conditions is the strength to the sector. The industry has technically and professionally experience personalities to efficiently run it. The government provides the industry with the financial backing and power needed to facilitate the activities of the industry. The tourism sector of Saudi Arabia is not fully exploited and therefore calls for more public and private investments. 1.3. LITERATURE REVIEW 1.3.1. Introduction This section reviewed relevant literature on the importance of tourism on economic development. The review explored research works and other secondary data relevant to the study to establish sound understanding of what has been done in the area by other researcher in order to identify knowledge gaps. 1.3.2. Literature The impacts of global tourism clearly show that it is an activity of considerable economic importance. Apart from the fact that tourism is a source of income, it is also considered a major factor in the balance of payment for several countries. As a result, tourism has gained increasing attention on the part of governments together with regional and local authorities, those in the business field and other stakeholders in the economic development (Nissan, Galindo & Mendez, 2010, pg67). According to Kraph (1961, pg56), tourism has a special function in developing countries. He defines this special function in terms of economic necessities such as: international competitiveness as a result of favorable terms of trade, balanced growth, exploitation of the countries own natural resources, social utility of investments in tourism and an ability to provide internally numerous goods and services required. Kraph argues that that tourism has the potential to generate, from limited investment in plant and infrastructure, huge amount of capital that may be transferred to other sectors of the economy. Significant economic growth can be realized by proper implementations of such actions mainly through the multiplier effect of tourism, enhancement of education and professionalism, the creation of employment, public revenue, increased public pride, foreign exchange earnings and foreign direct investment (Nissan, Galindo & Mendez 2010, pg94). Tourism is a labor intensive industry hence its growth must be accompanied with education and training of the local people in the field. In this regard, there is need for proper cost-benefit analysis to determine the economic impact of tourism in the developing economy. According to Dwyer and Forsyth (1993, pg31), the impacts of tourism on economy are realized through expenditure on different goods and services. Dwyer and Forsyth (1993, pg81) argue that jobs created by tourism are spread across the country’s economy in retail, construction, telecommunications and manufacturing, in addition to directly in tourism companies. Even though these jobs are predominantly in small and midsized companies, they offer good training and transferability and to a greater importance the industry employs large portion of minorities, young people and women. Most governments have realized that long-term potential tourism is not just about revenue collection but also as a promoter of international peace and goodwill (Hall 2004, pg121). As a result many countries are focusing on the comparative advantage that might exist as far as tourism is concerned. Dwyer & Forsyth, (2006, pg65) states that the comparative advantage for tourism can sometimes act as an avenue for developing nations to earn foreign exchange more rapidly with minimum difficulty as compared to other products. It is worth noting that international tourism is more important to developing economies as compared to developed and industrialized economies, accounting for one-third of their services trade (Dwyer & Forsyth 2006, pg115). In order to encourage tourists to visit their countries, governments mostly invest in the tourism sector buy allocating large proportion of federal funds to tourism policy, planning and promotion. That is, a government that aims at maximizing on the benefits of tourism puts more effort into the construction of essential tourist facilities, such as hotels, access roads, highways, visitor attractions and communication networks. These add to the country’s physical assets (Debbage 1998, pg29). Significant efforts are geared towards conserving areas of natural beauty and maintaining resort areas and cultural communities (Stabler 1991, pg17). Tourism can accords its importance both at local, international and regional levels. The relationship between tourism and economic growth is a vital one specifically because tourism encourages the level of domestic demand (Williams and Shaw 1991, pg52). For an economy to fully benefit from tourism, then it has to undertake investments that will develop relevant infrastructure and services that will ensure comfort ability to the expected tourists. In this regard, there is always a link between tourism and other economic sectors such as arts and crafts, transport, retailing, wholesaling, agriculture, manufacturing and other services at the local level (Williams and Shaw 1991, pg45). At the international level, tourism is an important factor in the convergence process through its net distribution of wealth. In addition, due to the fact that it acts as means for distributing development away from industrial centers towards less developed countries-tourism can be used as a strategy for reducing regional economic disparities and regional development (Williams and Shaw 1991, pg81). Empirical literature According to Albqami (2004, pg15), the service sector resulted to higher income and employment impact. However, the output income on the same sector was low as compare to the transport sector. By using input-output mode, Albqami found that the impacts of tourist expenditure on output, employment, and income were measured at direct and indirect level. Bashir and Ahmad (2005, pg23) undertook a study in Malaysia to determine the existing relationship between tourism expenditure in the country and its respective profile of West Asian tourists and growth. According to the Bashir and Ahmad (2005, pg29) study, the hotel industry, entertainment, wholesale and retail trade, and business services sectors received greater economic gains from tourism. As revealed by the results, tourists made large expenditure on three major sectors namely; food and beverages, accommodation and shopping. In addition, the results indicated that West Asian tourists acknowledge that they would revisit Malaysia if they are presented with the opportunity to explore the emotional and experiential aspect of tourism. According to Kasman and Kasman (2004, pg10), there is unidirectional relationship that exists between tourism and economic growth. Kasman and Kasman (2004, 16) argue that tourism can motivate growth in small developing economies. That is, there is likely faster growth in small countries when they are specialized in tourism. They suggested the use of certain selection method to separate the whole sample into diverse subsets whereby tourism can significantly affect economic growth. On his part, Dristsakis (2004, pg31) suggests a strong unidirectional causality between economic growth and international tourism. Hazari and Sgro (1995, pg33), through their own developed dynamic growth model, proved that there buoyant world demand for tourism has a positive impact on small and open economies in the long-run. By using an export-led growth approach, Balaguer and Cantavella-Jordá (2002, pg11) studied the role played by tourism economic growth of Spain. The model used by Balaguer and Cantavella-Jordá (2002, pg17) showed that expansion of international tourism influences Spains economic growth. Balaguer and Cantavella-Jordá (2002, pg19) argued that foreign exchange earned as a result of international tourism could influence importation of goods. Through multiplier effects, this will influence production of more goods and services in the economy hence economic growth. Durbarry (2004) focused on the relationship between economic growth and tourism in Mauritius. In doing the study, Durbarry undertook a cointegration and causality analysis and he found out that tourism had a significant impact of the economic growth and development. Kim et al (2006, pg51) found a bi-directional causality that exists between economic growth and tourism expansion in Taiwan. Considering regional level, Soukiazis and Proença (2007, pg65) argued that tourism is characterized by positive impact on regional growth on Portugal. In addition, tourism exhibits a convergence factor that is important in helping regions to approximate their levels of development. 1.4 Paradigm Guiding Assumptions to be adopted The main assumptions of the study are that most literature reviewed was guided by positivist assumptions, basically using survey methods. However, the proposed study will use mixed methods research design, involving different sets of guiding assumptions for different components so as to maximize the value for learning for the study. A qualitative interview component will be used based on constructivist guiding assumptions and will seek to understand at personal level the role of Islamic tourism in economic development. A quantitative survey component will be based on positivist guiding assumptions and will focus on ensuring key constructs and exploring their inter-relationships. 1.5. Research objectives 1. To determine the role of religious tourism in the development of the economy of Saudi Arabia 2. To understand the percentage change of the economic consequences of religious tourism during the last 10 years. 3. To determine the implications of the GDP of a Saudi from religious tourism Research questions 1. What is the role of religious tourism in the development of the economy of Saudi Arabia?  2. What is the percentage of change of the economic consequences of religious tourism during the last 10 years? 3. What are the implications of the GDP of a Saudi from religious tourism?  2.0. RESEARCH DESIGN The research plan An exploratory research design will be used in conducting study. The nature of research necessitates the use of both qualitative and quantities techniques. This is because the study focused on both subjective and objective assessment of the importance of importance of religious tourism on the economic development of Saudi Arabia Kingdom. Explanatory designs have been documented (Mugenda& Mugenda,2003), and advanced as best method for social scientists whose interest is collecting original data for the purpose of describing a population, which is too large to observe directly. The 1st stage of the study will involve a cross-sectional field-administered quantitative survey of top management in various government Islamic centers, hotel managers and private investors. The 2nd stage will involves a series of in-depth qualitative interviews with a sample of participants who completed a survey in stage 1. Step 2 is vital since it will provide in-depth learning from perspective of management participants, which may help to explain the patterns observed in the survey results from stage 1. Before execution of stage 1 and stage 2, comprehensive secondary data will be retrieved from database of The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and the government’s bureau of statistics. The overall research design is shown in figure 2 below: ( Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003) Target population A total of 150 questionnaires will be sent to various stakeholders within the tourism industry. The sample will be: 50 government representative respondents, 30 hotel managers, 50 private investors in the tourism sector and 20 religious leaders. For stage 1, the secondary data will be from The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and the government’s bureau of statistics. For stage 2, qualitative survey forms will be sent to selected senior managers and middle managers in the tourism sector. Using stratified random sampling; 30 senior governments and 20 government representatives will be selected for the survey; 15 senior and 15 middle hotel managers will be selected; 35 senior investors and 15 middle investors; and 20 Islamic leaders will be selected for the survey. Sample size and sampling techniques The sample size for the survey is 150 respondents. However, stratified random sampling will be used to obtain 80 senior management officials, 50 middle management officials and 20 Islamic religious leaders. This sampling strategy will enhance external validity for generalization to all senior and middle managers that participate in the study. For the 1st stage of the survey, secondary data will be used. Data collection instruments and Procedures The researcher will use both primary and secondary source to collect data for this study. Primary data will be obtained through 150 questionnaires that will be sent to various stakeholders within the tourism industry. This will include; 50 government representative respondents, 30 hotel managers, 50 private investors in the tourism sector and 20 religious leaders. Secondary data will be retrieved from the database of The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and the government’s bureau of statistics. Validity of the instrument Validity is defined as the accuracy and meaningfulness of inferences, which are based on the research results. That is, the degree to which the obtained results represent the phenomenon under the study. The questionnaire and survey forms will be designed to tap information from the respondents as is required to measure. To also validate the instruments a pre-test will be conducted. The researcher will test the validity by comparing the variance between two sets of results and these will be the pilot study results and the actual results. Reliability of the instrument Mugenda & Mugenda (2003, pg181) defines reliability as a measure of the degree to which research instruments yields consistent results of data after several trials. Reliability of research instruments refers to the consistency of instrument items applied. It is the extent to which an instrument produces the same result every time it is used. The researcher will carry-out a pilot study by performing 2 surveys with the same respondents within one week (test-retest method) and determine reliability by calculating Pearson correlation coefficients of the two sets which will then be used as a quantitative measure of the test-retest reliability. . Data Analysis and Presentation The researcher will first establish if the entire questionnaire and survey forms are dully completed. Primary data collected will be coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 and E-views. These two Softwares give clear and precise results that ensuring unbiased of the study. The results will be presented using tables for ease of understanding. Secondly, the data will be coded and keyed in to an Excel Computer based application Program to determine the relationship between the independent and dependent variables as fore stated. The collected data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages. Descriptive statistics allowed for the generalization of the data so as to give an account of the characteristics of the population as represented by the sample and to test the hypothesis. Analyzed data will be presented in tables. The use of tables is to allow for orderly arrangement of data Ethical considerations The study will observe ethics in research. This includes treating identities of respondents with confidentiality. Timeline for the study The entire study is estimated to take a maximum of 26 weeks activity Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Passing gatekeeper Obtaining ethical clearance Obtaining relevant secondary data Pilot study Drawing main sample Distribute main study Follow-up reminder to non-returning respondents Quantitative data coding, entry, checking and analysis with SPSS Qualitative interview Interview transcription and checking field notes transcription Analysis of qualitative interviews and contextual field notes Integrate results, create relevant data displays Final research report Resources The resources that will be used for this study include; access to relevant secondary data from Commission of Tourism and Antiquities in the Kingdom, access to SPSS and E-view software, high quality digital recorder for recording the verbatim responses and access to HR contact details for the management respondents that will be included in the sample. 3.0. Strengths and limitations of the proposal The strengths of the proposal include: The proposal is characterized by mixed statistical methods that provide a much richer and objective understanding of the role on Islamic tourism in the economic development of Saudi Arabia kingdom. The constructs used in the survey-mixed qualitative and quantitative research design-have all been explored and tested in earlier research; hence some degree of validity is assured. Transparency and authenticity of the qualitative data from management respondents is assured through the use of strong analytical and data analysis procedures. Despite numerous strengths highlighted above, the study is characterized by some limitations. Financial constraints pose one of the limitations of the study. There is no adequate capital to undertake the study hence the study relies on sponsors. This may jeopardize the results of the study since some sponsors may want their needs to be met. Considering the fact that the study is religious sensitive, some vital questions might not be asked due to religious reasons hence biasness in the results of the study. Bibliography Albqami, R. (2004). “Economic Impact of Tourism Sector on Saudi Arabian Economy,” Brussels, International Conference on Input-output and General Equilibrium, discussion paper (www.ecomod.net/conferences/iioa2004/). Economics, Vol 70, pp 65–94. Balaguer, J., and Cantavella-Jordá, M. (2002). ‘Tourism as a long-run economic growth factor: the Spanish case’, Applied Economics, Vol 34, pp 877–884. Bashir, M. S., and Ahmad, N. (2005). Multiplier effects of Malaysia’s tourists expenditure patterns [online]. Available: http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/miora/BIOM/multeffect.pdf [2011, August 13]. Dritsakis, N. (2004). ‘Tourism as a long-run economic growth factor: an empirical investigation for Greece using causality analysis’, Tourism Economics, Vol 10, pp 305–316. Durbarry, R. (2004). ‘Tourism and economic growth: the case of Mauritius’, Tourism Economics, Vol10, pp 389–401. Dwyer, L. & Forsyth, P. (1993). “Socio-Economic impacts of Foreign investment in Queensland Tourism” Papers e9304, Western Sydney - School of Business And Technology. Dwyer, L., & Forsyth, P. (2006). International Handbook on the Economics of Tourism. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Hall, D. (2004). Tourism and Transition: Governance, Transformation and Development. Wallingford: CAB International. Hazari, R., and Sgro, M. (1995). ‘Tourism and growth in a dynamic model of trade’, The Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, Vol 4, pp 253–256. Kim, H.J., Chen, M., and Jang, S.S. (2006). ‘Tourism expansion and economic development: the case of Taiwan’, Tourism Management, Vol 27, pp 925–933. Kraph, W. (1961). Tourism alternatives: Potentials and problems in the development of tourism. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. Lanza, A., and Pigliaru, F. (2000). ‘Why are tourism countries small and fast-growing?’ in Fossati, A., and Panella, G., eds, Tourism and Sustainable Economic Development, Kluwer Academic Publisher, Dordrecht, pp 57–69. Mugenda, O.M., and Mugenda, A.G. (2003). “Research methods: Quantitative and qualitative approaches”. Nairobi, Acts Press. Nissan, E., Galindo, M., & Mendez, M. (2010). "Relationship between tourism and economic growth." The Services Industries Journal, 31(10), 1567–1572. Williams, A., and Shaw, G. (1991). Tourism and Economic Development: Western European Experiences, 2nd Edition, Belhaven Press, London Appendix Appendix 1: Figure 1 Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire To help us to build more information about the importance of religious tourism in the economic development of Saudi Arabian economy, we would ask you to take a few minutes of your time to answer the following questions. PART ONE For the first two questions, kindly respond by clicking the appropriate box. 1. What is your gender female male 2. What is religion Muslim non-Muslim 3. What is your management level middle senior PART TWO For the next 5 questions, kindly mark the response by circling the phrase which best represents your arguments towards religious tourism. 1 represent strongly agree; 2 is for agree; 3 is for neutral; 4 is for disagree and 5 is for strongly disagree. Strongly agree agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree 3 How much does your organization earn annually from tourism 1 2 3 4 5 4. have you received many tourists for the past 6 months 1 2 3 4 5 5. Does tourism help develop other related sectors such as hotels, transport and construction 1 2 3 4 5 6. Does tourism contributes significantly to the country’s GDP 1 2 3 4 5 7. Does tourism greatly contributes to good international relation between countries 1 2 3 4 5 Appendix 3 PART THREE TO RECORD VERBATIM AND PERSONAL OPINION 1. To what extend have religious tourism impacted Saudi Arabia Economy? (recording verbatim) 2. What sectors of the economy are directly impacted by the religious tourism? 3. What percentage does religious tourism contributes to the Saudi Arabian economy? 4. What is the role of government in developing religious tourism? 5. What is the trend of religious tourism in Saudi Arabia? THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION APPENDIX FOUR Letter I: Draft letter to Commission of Tourism and Antiquities in the Kingdom for negotiating access through the Chairman of the commission Mr./Mrs. Chairman Commission of Tourism and Antiquities in the Kingdom Address Dear Mr/ Mrs. I write seeking access to your commission for the purposes of carrying out research into the role of religious tourism in the economic development of Saudi Arabia Kingdom. I had been into your office for a pre-visit and this letter is just a confirmation of the date of the data collection. This letter seeks permission for the following: Access to the commission and permission to visit the main offices for purposes of collecting the secondary data about religious tourism Access to the organization and permission to distribute the main survey and for conducting interviews with staff. A small room, a table and two chairs to be used during research process This is research is going to be of help to the entire tourism sector and I guarantee that all the ethics of research will be followed during the whole process. Provided, are copies of my trustee proposal comprising copies of measure and consent and assent forms to be used during the survey. In addition, an approval letter from Saudi Arabia Research Ethics Committee is also attached. Upon completion of the survey, Commission of Tourism and Antiquities in the Kingdom will be provided with a copy of full research report. In case of any inquiries, kindly be free to contact me on [insert contact, email address] Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. Letter 2: General Authority for endowments in the Saudi Arabia Dear participant, It is with great pleasure that I invite you to participate in this research by agreeing to complete the attached survey. This survey seeks obtain your opinion on this importance of religious tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am doing the survey for academic purposes; but will be helpful to any stakeholder in tourism sector. The purpose of this survey is to help determine the importance of religious tourism in economic development of Saudi Arabia. This does not mean that the survey will be purely religious; or rather it will focus on tourism in religious perspective. However, the survey is very important because it will serve as a benchmark for improving the religious tourism sector in the country This is research is going to be of help to the entire tourism sector and I guarantee that all the ethics of research will be followed during the whole process especially confidentiality and religious beliefs. In addition, the study is purely voluntary and only those who choose to participate will be surveyed. I [Name:________________________________________] as [Role Title:__________________________] of [Site Name: ________________________] having been fully informed as to the nature of the research to be conducted in give my permission for the study to be conducted. I reserve the right to withdraw this permission at anytime. Signature:______________________________________ Date: ___________________________ Read More