The Future of Green Tourism in the Middle East: A Case Study of NEOM City (Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Purpose

As Saudi Arabia's NEOM City puts together a comprehensive plan for a smart, sustainable city, the major question is how viable it is to construct a state-of-the-art city that can achieve excellent sustainability and green credentials. This study aimed to examine the viability of NEOM City in achieving green tourism by scrutinizing the efforts and strategies used to realize green tourism.

Methodology

The paper employed a qualitative research strategy to gain rich and in-depth knowledge from various people with informed knowledge. Purposive sampling was employed to select the ideal members from the population to take part in the research. Twenty participants were recruited from contractors developing the NEOM project, engineers, workers, environmentalists, and managers of the tourism sectors with sufficient knowledge about the project. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via Skype to obtain the views of the respondents. Raw data was analyzed through thematic analysis.

Findings

Findings revealed that Saudi Arabia had developed an extensive vision for 2030, incorporating sustainability into its tourism sectors to achieve zero emissions by 2030. The country is gradually embracing sustainable tourism, including making a low impact on the local culture and the environment while generating job opportunities and income and conserving the local ecosystems. It deploys greener initiatives like green airlines, eco hospitality, locally sourced materials, and forward-thinking government actions to foster sustainable tourism. However, the high number of visitors results in over-tourism and overuse of natural resources, ultimately depleting the same. Besides, over-tourism contributes to pollution, greenhouse emissions, and water scarcity. NEOM city consists of an ambitious plan in line with Saudi's vision 2030 that has already started to materialize, focusing on building a smart city. The city harnesses smart technologies to achieve sustainability and an ideal tourist destination.

Implications

The knowledge presented in this study is vital to environmentalists, policymakers, practitioners, and scholars who need to understand the project and its approaches to sustainability.

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