du lịch như một vũ khí địa chính trị trường hợp từ ả rập xê út saudi arabia

ACADEMIA Letters Tourism as a geopolitical weapon: case from Saudi Arabia Alessandro Ricci Saudi Arabia is a key player in the Middle Eastern politics The control over the holy sites of Mecca and Medina has historically given the possibility to the ruling family of Al Saud to exert its soft power on the Islamic world This has happened, for example, by allowing a higher or lower number of pilgrim visas for any given country However, in last years, the Saudi ruling house has aimed to expand its political influence by opening the country also to non-religious tourism This opening, apparently contradicting the particularly conservative image of the country, is part of a process of modernization that mainly involves the demarcation from oil promoted by the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman In September 2019 the country’s borders were officially opened to international tourism, thus allowing the issuance of tourist visas to citizens of 49 different countries It is the first time in Saudi history that non-religious tourists are permitted to step on Saudi soil In fact, until this moment, pilgrims going to the holy places of Islam were the only category of foreign non-working people allowed to enter in Saudi Arabia It is worth noting that pilgrimage has been an essential source of income for the country In the last decade, the average number of pilgrims has fluctuated between and million per year If we include also pilgrims who perform the umrah – the pilgrimage to the holy places outside the hajj month – the number of visitors grows to an average of million pilgrims per year, with a cash flow for the country of 12 billion dollars a year which represents almost 3% of the country’s non-oil GDP1 However, the idea of opening the country to non-religious mass tourism is not a recent proposal In the early 2000s the first official structure to build a tourist flow in the country was M Francis, «How Much Money Does Saudi Arabia Make From Hajj and Umrah?,» Insidesaudi.com 23/05/2020 Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Alessandro Ricci, ale.ricci.ar@gmail.com Citation: Ricci, A (2021) Tourism as a geopolitical weapon: case from Saudi Arabia Academia Letters, Article 1298 https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1298 established, the “Supreme Council for Tourism” (SCT) However, this first project was soon to be abandoned after the events of September 2001 when 15 Saudi citizens were identified as compromised in the attack on the World Trade Center2 In the following years, however, the project has not ceased to be taken into consideration by the royal family: in 2008 the SCT was transformed into the “Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquity” (SCTA) and in 2014 it became the “Saudi Commission for Tourism and the National Heritage” (SCTNH) In the same year, the SCTNH launched the first real experiment for a cultural tourism in the country, albeit still linked exclusively to pilgrims In fact, the organ gave life to the “Umrah Plus” program which gave pilgrims from 65 different countries engaged in umrah the opportunity to reside in the country for a 30-days period allowing them to visit historical, archaeological and cultural sites The plan was not very successful and nevertheless it remains a first, embryonic, experiment in what will later become an important pillar of the future Saudi economy3 According to data provided by the Saudi tourism authority, the tourism sector will contribute up to 5% of GDP in 2022, rising to 10% in 2030 Forecasts predict that in 2030 the new jobs created in the tourism sector should reach one million, while the total number of cultural visitors will amount to 100 million, of which 55 exclusively of international origin4 Between September 2019 and March 2020, before the borders were blocked due to the Covid19 pandemic, more than 50 thousand tourist visas were issued These ambitious objectives are part of a very specific plan for an economic transformation of the country This project has been shown in a document - the Saudi Vision - issued in April 2016 The document is part of a series of “visions” that appeared in most of the Gulf countries, from Kuwait to Oman to the United Arab Emirates, from the late 1990s onwards In general, these plans concern the modernization of the country and in particular the economic diversification The various Gulf countries, in fact, are well aware of the limits set by non-renewable energies on which they are highly dependent, and therefore propose a series of internal developments ranging from the expansion of small and medium-sized private enterprises to the strengthening of industrial sectors other than oil, to the improvement of the tertiary sector5 The Saudi plan, in particular, presents a total of 96 goals to be achieved by 2030 to bring a radical renewal of the country from an economic and social point of view The Saudi Vision F Gardner, «Saudi Arabia to open up to foreign tourists with new visas,» bbc.com, 27/11/2019 E Ekiz, Z Öter e M L Stephenson, «Tourism development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Determining the problems and resolving the challenges » in International Tourism Development and the Gulf Cooperation Council States: Challenges and Opportunities, Routledge, 2017, pp 124-139 https://www.sta.gov.sa/en/#TOURISMSA Mishrif, A & Al Balushi, Y., 2018 Economic Diversification in the Gulf Region, Volume I: The Private Sector as an Engine of Growth Palgrave Macmillan Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Alessandro Ricci, ale.ricci.ar@gmail.com Citation: Ricci, A (2021) Tourism as a geopolitical weapon: case from Saudi Arabia Academia Letters, Article 1298 https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1298 is divided into three sections: (i) a Vibrant Society; (ii) a Thriving Economy and (iii) an Ambitious Nation The ultimate goal of Saudi Vision is to strengthen the cultural hegemony of the country in the region by the consolidation its historical roots – Arab and Islamic – enhancing its economy and its role as a commercial hub between Asia, Europe and Africa The first section is dedicated to the historical-cultural aspect of the country At a first glance, it is noted that the Arab-Islamic roots of the country are strongly reaffirmed, a sign that Riyadh has no intention of abandoning its image of guardian of the holy places and leader of the Sunni world In this sense, it is emphasized within the plan that the main purpose of the country remains to provide support to all pilgrims visiting the country The main goal for the country is to be able to receive up to 30 million umrah pilgrims every year Moreover, the Saudi ruling house aims to double the sites recognized by UNESCO in the country and to bring at least three Saudi cities among the top 100 in the world Lastly, the first section focuses on promoting culture directly for Saudi citizens, for example by increasing the number and type of activities related to culture and leisure The second section focuses on the country’s economy The desire of the ruling family expressed in the plan is to diversify the economic system The first step is to give more space to the private system, both for the small and medium-sized enterprises and for the large companies Although the important role of oil in the Saudi economy is constantly repeated inside the document, the program lists several methods for breaking free from the exclusive export of oil This must be done through the strengthening of some others sectors – mining, healthcare and finance among others – and especially tourism As already mentioned, within this plan of economic diversification, the goal to be achieved over the next 10 years is to earn 10% of GDP exclusively through the income generated by tourism The third and last section of the plan regards the government of the country, which is said to become more efficient, transparent and closer to the citizens Although interesting, an analysis of this aspect goes beyond the purpose of this paper Saudi Arabia’s challenge to bring millions of tourists is also played through a review of some of the concepts that have characterized the country up to this moment The sacred places of Islam will in any case remain forbidden to non-Muslims, but there is no doubt that some of the interpretations of Islam typical of Wahhabism – the Islamic interpretation followed by the Saudi ruling house – which have made it particularly closed must be revised As a matter of facts, in the Saudi society religion permeates almost all aspects of daily life discerning what is acceptable or forbidden to in the free time This strictness could halt Western and non-Islamic tourists from choosing Saudi Arabia as a possible destination for their holidays Religious law prohibits, among other things, public displays of affection, unmarried couples sharing a room, gambling, the use of alcohol and non-halal food, effectively preventing the Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Alessandro Ricci, ale.ricci.ar@gmail.com Citation: Ricci, A (2021) Tourism as a geopolitical weapon: case from Saudi Arabia Academia Letters, Article 1298 https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1298 creation and proliferation of heterogeneous spaces such as nightclubs or bars6 Moreover, some crimes such as the drug dealing are even punished with the death penalty in the country7 Having said that, it is easier to understand the extent of Bin Salman’s numerous concessions in recent years Not only does the opening of borders to international mass tourism pass through the issuance of a visa, but also through the cleaning of a not always positive image The image of the country is in fact adversely affected by the limited respect for human rights and the lack of individual freedom, especially regarding women rights The recent openings towards the latter, such as being able to drive or not having to be constantly accompanied by a male relative, primarily have the purpose of “normalizing” the international aspect of the Gulf country on the outside Zamani-Farahani, H & Henderson, J C., 2010 Islamic Tourism and Managing Tourism Development in Islamic Societies: The Cases of Iran and Saudi Arabia International Journal of Tourism Research, Volume 12, p 79–89 M Abuhjeeleh, «Rethinking Tourism in Saudi Arabia: Royal Vision 2030 Perspective» African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, vol 8, n 5, 2019 Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Alessandro Ricci, ale.ricci.ar@gmail.com Citation: Ricci, A (2021) Tourism as a geopolitical weapon: case from Saudi Arabia Academia Letters, Article 1298 https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1298 ... The Saudi Vision F Gardner, ? ?Saudi Arabia to open up to foreign tourists with new visas,» bbc.com, 27/11/2019 E Ekiz, Z Öter e M L Stephenson, «Tourism development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: ... Islamic Societies: The Cases of Iran and Saudi Arabia International Journal of Tourism Research, Volume 12, p 79–89 M Abuhjeeleh, «Rethinking Tourism in Saudi Arabia: Royal Vision 2030 Perspective»... medium-sized private enterprises to the strengthening of industrial sectors other than oil, to the improvement of the tertiary sector5 The Saudi plan, in particular, presents a total of 96 goals