Tourism in Saudi Arabia - Opportunities for Improvement, Role of Private Sector, Government Support - Research Paper Example

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS Introduction This chapter presents the findings obtained from the research based on the objectives of the research, the research question and an analysis of the same. The analysis of the results is supported with theories on organisational theory, change and change resistance as well as studies conducted along the related areas of research. The findings are compared with such theories and findings of past studies to determine whether the present findings are similar with or different from ideas suggested in existing theories and past studies. Presentation and analysis Questions used in the research tool (questionnaire) were aimed at determining the extent to which there is change in tourism in organisations in Saudi Arabia, the existence of resistance to change or barriers to change, perceptions of employees regarding change, their understanding of the benefits of change or need for change, and the their understanding of how organisational theory can be used to assist in overcoming change in tourism organisations in the country. Please view the appendix section for the full research questionnaire and results of the questionnaire survey. The first three statements of the questionnaire basically sought to evaluate how people who work in tourism organisations in Saudi Arabia perceive the tourism industry in terms of how tourism in the country can be improved, the role played by the private sector in the development of tourism, and the involvement of the government in enhancing private sector participation in the tourism industry. These questions were important for the survey findings because they test the level to which tourism organisations are embracing change to improve their operations, the extent to which the private sector is engaged in initiating change in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia, and the level to which the government of Saudi Arabia supports private sector organisations in the tourism industry in the country to embrace and implement change. For all the questions, the research participants were asked to respond to questions by noting the extent to which they agree or disagree with the stated statement or question. The participants were to state whether they Strongly Agree, Agree, are Neutral to the statement, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree with statement. The first three statements were framed as follows: 1. Tourism in Saudi Arabia can be still significantly improved and has not yet reached its full potential. 2. The private sector currently plays an important role in the development of the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. 3. The government supports the private sector in the Saudi tourism industry. In regard to the above statements, the responses given by the respondents in expressed as percentages (where 100% = 40 participants) are shown in figure 1. Figure 1: Participants’ responses to statements / questions 1-3 The findings show that many of the research participants either strongly agreed or agreed with the three statements while nearly as many were neutral, meaning they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statements. The results suggest that at least 50 percent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia can still be improved, that the private sector plays a key role in the growth of the tourism industry in the country, and that the government supports private sector organisations to implement the changes that they are undertaking. Some of the findings above are in agreements with a number of works that have been written in relation to the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia (Sadi & Henderson, 2005; Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), n.d.; Colliers International, 2011). For instance, it is noted that “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a land of opportunities and contradictions in terms of tourism development potential” (Colliers International, 2011, p. 1). Some of the factors that are considered ‘opportunities and contradictions’ in regard to the tourism development potential include Saudi Arabia’s strict visa requirements and strong potential for inbound tourism; large and rapidly increasing population and limited leisure products; presence of many potential tourist sites which are yet to be fully developed; and “a naturally welcoming and hospitable population” that has the capacity to offer excellent tourism, hospitality and leisure services (Colliers International, 2011). Sadi and Henderson (2005) also argue that the Middle East region is considerably undeveloped as a tourist area, but is anticipated to grow in future, with Saudi Arabia offering an interesting example as a country that has recently started to harness its hitherto untapped potential as a tourist destination. It is also argued that initially, Saudi Arabia paid little attention to conventional international leisure tourism because of many factors, which include political, economic and social reasons (Sadi & Henderson, 2005). In addition, there was less need to pay attention to the tourism industry in the past due to the discovery as well as exploitation of oil resources and the lucrative income associated with oil in the 1970s (Sadi & Henderson, 2005, p. 96). However, Saudi Arabia has remained an attractive destination for religious tourism since millions of people travel to the city of Mecca for the Hajj each year. The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which every Muslim believer is required to make, if they are able to, at least on one occasion in their life span (Sadi & Henderson, 2005, p. 96). As noted by Sadi and Henderson (2005), the large number of people visiting Saudi Arabia for the Hajj calls for a massive organisational effort by the various organisations involved in accommodating Hajj pilgrims as well as the tourists who visit Saudi Arabia for other reasons. In addition, the decline in the attractiveness of oil as a source of revenue has caused a need for Saudi Arabia to look for other alternative sources of income, of which tourism if cited as one of the viable option (Sadi & Henderson, 2005, p. 97). This is in line with the responses given by the many participants in the present research, who agreed or strongly agreed that tourism in Saudi Arabia can still be considerably improved and has not yet reached its potential. This indicates that there is a strong potential of improving the tourism industry by introducing changes which will make the various organisations that are involved, both private and public related, to be more attractive to tourists. Ideally, with more attention being given to the tourism industry as a source of revenue for the government, it can be argued that a great potential exists for improving the organisations that are concerned with tourism as well as the tourism industry in general. The number of people who were neutral in regard to this statement is also considerably high, which implies that relatively many people still consider Saudi Arabia as a country which does not have a high tourism potential, which as discussed here, was the situation of the country in the past. This argument can be connected to the observation that there is still much that can be done in order for Saudi Arabia to reach its full potential in terms of tourism (Colliers International, 2011, p. 1). Considerably few participants below (below 20 percent) either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia can improved or has not reached its full potential. This again emphasises the point that there are still some people, though not many, who view the tourism industry in the kingdom as it was in the past, that is, tourism being of peripheral importance to the Saudi Arabian public and hence having no potential for improvement. In regard to the role that the private sector plays in the development of the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia, it can be seen that many participants (at least more than 50 percent of the participants) agreed or strongly agreed that the private sector is playing a role in developing the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. This means that many people are optimistic that the private sector is playing a pivotal role in the growth of tourism in the country. There are several examples to support this view. For instance, according to Colliers International (2011), roughly 40 privately owned museums have been authorised to be set up using the most modern technology to display Saudi Arabia’s antiquities and heritage. There is no doubt that the use of modern technology in tourist sites needs to be supported with the use of advanced technologies in other tourism-related facilities such as hospitality and leisure organisations. More importantly, the SCTA, which is the body concerned with tourism development in Saudi Arabia, has been encouraging private sector organisations in the tourism industry in the country to invest and partner with others and the government in establishing tourism facilities and attractions of international quality (Colliers International, 2011). This means that the SCTA has realised the role played by the private sector in the expansion of tourism in the kingdom. This is the same position expressed by many of the participants in the current research, who showed optimism that the private sector in Saudi Arabia is a playing a role in the growth of tourism. Since growth is associated with change, it can be seen that the private sector is without doubt involved in bringing change in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. Still, there were some participants (27.5 percent) who were neutral in regard to the role played by the private sector, and a few others who disagreed (17.5 percent) or strongly disagreed (5 percent) that the private sector plays a role in the development of the tourism industry in the country. Again, this indicates the mixed views regarding tourism in Saudi Arabia as pointed out by Colliers International (2011). The findings relating to question three, which was about whether the government supports the private sector in the Saudi Arabian tourism industry, can be analysed by looking at the role played the SCTA. The SCTA is government institution that was created for the purpose of developing, promoting and enhancing the tourism sector of Saudi Arabia, as well as helping in the removal of development obstacles related to the tourism industry. SCTA strives to provide a competitive environment where sustainable and balanced growth can be achieved in the tourism industry. In particular, SCTA makes an effort to remove barriers that face the tourism industry in general as well as investment in tourism in particular, by facilitating agreements between the government and private organisations to support this cause. It also creates incentives that aid in developing such agreements, growth of tourism in different regions, investment in tourism services and overall investments in the tourism industry (SCTA, n.d). From the current research, more than 50 percent of the research participants agreed or strongly agreed (30 percent and 32.5 percent respectively) that the government supports the private sector in the Saudi Arabian tourism industry. This means that they are aware of efforts by the government through various initiatives such as the SCTA to bring change into the tourism industry in the country and hence spur improvements. Relatively few participants (22.5 percent) remained neutral in regard to this statement while 15 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed, implying that only a few people have not realised the efforts by the government of Saudi Arabia to support the private sector in the development of tourism in the kingdom. Responses to questions 4-5 can be analysed in consideration of the change efforts being made in tourism organisations in Saudi Arabia. The statements to which responses were made are: 4. I believe there is over-reliance on pilgrim and religious tourism in Saudi Arabia. 5. Significant change is needed in order to improve the Saudi tourism industry. Question four sought to collect information on whether tourism industry insiders in Saudi Arabia believe that the country over-relies on pilgrim and religious tourism while question five inquired whether the research participants believed that change is required in the Saudi Arabian tourism industry. The findings relating to the two questions are presented in figure 2. Figure 2: Results relating to questions 4 and 5. It can be seen that many people (65 percent combined) agree or strongly agree that there is over-reliance on pilgrim and religious tourism in Saudi Arabia. This figure exceeds the number of respondents who were neutral, those who disagreed and those who strongly disagreed with the statement. The findings for question 4 thus indicate that many people believe the tourism industry in the kingdom is mainly anchored on visitors who come to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage and religious functions. This can be adjudged to mean that many tourism insiders in Saudi Arabia believe that the tourism industry in the kingdom is not changing much in that it still relies heavily on pilgrimage and religious functions as key tourism attractions. Findings from literature sources however suggest otherwise. Even though Hajj and Umrah (personal pilgrimage) attract more than seven million people to Saudi Arabia at a given time (Brdesee, 2013), it is also apparent that there are quite a good number of people who visit the country for other reasons (Fisher, 2012). It is inarguable that religious tourism has been one of the cornerstones of Saudi Arabia’s economic strategy, but the number of people arriving in Saudi Arabia for religious functions appears to be dwindling in comparison to the number of people visiting the country for other reasons. For instance, it is indicated that in 1995, Hajj accounted for about 25 per cent of the kingdom’s tourists, yet in 2009 the figure was close to one in seven tourists visiting the country for Hajj (Fisher, 2012), which is about 14 per cent. The explanation given for this is that religious functions like Hajj last for just a few days, and tourists are concentrated only in Mecca and other religious sites. The total number of people visiting Saudi Arabia between 1995 and 2010 remained higher than the number of people visiting the country for religious functions (Fisher, 2012), thus implying the country does not really over-rely on pilgrim and religious tourism. The views expressed by the majority of the respondents in the present research where they suggested that Saudi Arabia over-relies on pilgrim and religious tourism could therefore be explained by the point that perhaps there are no accurate data on tourist numbers across the kingdom, or that the tourism industry insiders who participated in the research may not be fully cognisant of the trends in the tourism industry across the entire Saudi Arabia. What was largely agreed upon however is the point that it is necessary to develop the Saudi Arabian tourism industry. As many as 82.5 per cent of the respondents in the current research agreed or strongly agreed that change is necessary in the tourism industry in the kingdom. Change is a significant aspect of development to people and organisations, and the government of Saudi Arabia has raised awareness on the need to embrace it (Al Kahtani, 2013, p. 377; Alshehri, Drew & Alfarraj, 2012). Organisational change is the transformation of an organisation from its current situation (comfort zone) to some relatively unknown future condition to increase its efficiency (Lunenburg, 2010, p. 1; Harris, 2006, p. 164). The need to embrace change in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia as suggested by the majority of participants in the present research stems from the point that the tourism industry is relatively undeveloped, appears to rely heavily on pilgrim and other religious functions, and is therefore not as effective as it should be. Results for questions 6 and 7 show that many people in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia are aware of organisational resistance to change and recognise that resistance to change is one of the major barriers to implementing change in tourism organisations in the country. The questions were presented to the respondents as: 6. I believe that my organisation understands the term ‘resistance to change’ and the reasons as to why employees resist change initiatives. 7. Resistance to change is one of the major barriers to the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. The results of relating to the above questions are presented in figure 3 below. Figure 3: Participants’ responses pertaining to questions 6 and 7 From the results in figure, it can be seen that a large percentage of the respondents (over 80 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that their organisations are aware of the concept of ‘resistance to change’ as well as the reasons as to why employees resist change initiatives. Very few participants chose to be neutral to this statement and even fewer either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement in question 6. It can be said that being a widely discussed subject, the concept of resistance to change is well understood in many organisations in Saudi Arabia. Resistance to change is a common issue in organisations, and any change is likely to stir up emotions. According to Eriksson-Zetterquist, Müllern, and Styhr (2011), there is a general consensus among researchers that resistance is something that influences and affects change efforts. With such knowledge, there is no doubt that many organisations in Saudi Arabia are cognisant of this concept – as shown by the responses of the participants in the current research. It is also clear that many participants (70 per cent) are aware that “resistance to change is one of the major barriers to the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia” as stated in question 7. This is based on the fact that 35 percent of the participants agreed with this statement while an equal percentage proportion strongly agreed with the statement. But while a few participants in the research (2.5 percent) neither agreed or disagreed with the statement in question 7 and an equal proportion of the participants disagreed with the statement, a good number of them (25 per cent) strongly disagreed with the statement. This implies that the participants who strongly disagreed with the statement did not believe that resistance to change is one of the major barriers to the development of tourism organisations in Saudi Arabia. What these results suggest is that while there those who understand resistance to change, there are also those who have little knowledge about the topic in regard to them as employees or their organisations as a whole. In literature, resistance to change can be evaluated in terms of force field analysis. This a theory of change that developed from work by Kurt Lewin, who proposed that change is an outcome of the struggle between restraining forces and driving forces (Daft & Marcic, 2011, p. 313; Lunenburg, 2010, p. 5). Driving forces can be viewed as the opportunities or problems that offer motivation for change within an organisation. On the other hand, restraining forces are the different obstacles to change or factors that seek to maintain the status quo, such as inadequate employee skills, resistance from managers, or lack of resources (Daft & Marcic, 2011, p. 313; Lunenburg, 2010, p. 5; Parumasur & Barkhuizen, 2009, p. 489). In any organisational setting, people will view change differently. Some people will view change in terms of the opportunities in the force field analysis, while others will view it in terms of the restraining forces related to the theory. People may have reservations regarding change due to the perceived effect of the change on their career paths, probable loss of security, uncertainty about future job prospects, lack of participation in change initiatives, distrust between higher management and employees, inadequate incentives, and lack of clarity in the aims of the change process among other reasons (Harris, 2006, p. 164; Khassawneh, 2005, p. 15). It is because of this that the respondents in the present research had varied views regarding resistance to change as a barrier to the tourism industry in Australia. Questions 8, 9 and 10 were about management of change and the role played by employees in the management of change. The questions were stated as follows: 8. I believe that if change is properly managed, it can contribute to improvement in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. 9. My organisation has experienced change in the past and has been properly managed. 10. Employees of this organisation have the opportunity to contribute prior to, during and after the change process. Results show that quite large percentages of the respondents (over 60 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that proper management of change can bring improvement in the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia and that their organisations have experienced change processes in the past, which they properly managed. While only 5 percent of the respondents gave neutral responses to each of questions 8 and 9, 20 percent or more of the participants disagreed or strongly disagreed that proper management of change can lead to improvement of the tourism industry in Saudi Arabian and that their organisations have managed change successfully in the past. As well, 37.5 percent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that employees of their organisations have the opportunity to be involved in all stages of change processes that the organisations undertake. 32. 5 percent of the respondents gave a neutral response while 30 percent of them either disagreed or strongly disagreed that employees are involved in all stages of change processes in their organisations. See figure 4. Figure 4: Results for questions 8-10 The results relating to questions 8-10 have several implications. It can be seen that while many employees in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia are aware of the benefits of proper management of change, a substantial percentage of the same employees are of the view that their organisations do not involve employees in the change process. This finding coincides with some findings in past research studies regarding change in Arab countries and Saudi Arabia in particular (Khassawneh, 2005, p. 20). A review of literature by Khassawneh (2005) indicated that administrative reform in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Iran, former North Yemen, Syria and Sudan is elitist and inflexible in nature and does not promote the active participation of employees in change processes, and that members are by no means informed the reasons for any change or the basis for decisions that are made in their organisations. Khassawneh also argues that in Saudi Arabia, it has been discovered that the most noteworthy cause of employees’ resistance to change is associated with poor communication and poor interaction between higher management and employees. Communication researchers have argued that resistance to change is socially constructed and can be linked to problems in communication processes within an organisation (Qian, 2007, p. 11). In contrast, proper communication and engagement between top management and employees have been identified as factors that facilitate effective change management (Al-Nafjan & Al-Mudimigh, 2011). The responses given by the research participants in regard to questions 8-10 can be linked to the results for question 11. This question was presented as: 11. My organisation is familiar with “organisational theory” and believes that it can be a good candidate to better manage change in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. Although fifty percent of the respondents agreed strongly agreed with the statement, the rest either gave a neutral answer or disagreed/strongly disagreed. See figure 5. Figure 5: Results for question 11 The above results suggest that only about a half of the total number of research participants came from organisations which understand organisational theory and apply its principles. This point also reinforces the suggestion that many organisations in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia are ‘elitist and inflexible in nature’, thus validating why there has not been much change in the tourism industry in the country despite the existing potential to do so. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be seen that although there is potential for the tourism industry to change in order to become competitive, not much change has been achieved in various tourism organisations because of organisational limitations such as the organisations involved being elitist and inflexible in nature. This makes the organisations more prone to resistance to change since change processes are not communicated properly and many employees are not involved in the change processes. These findings are in line with the first three objectives of the research, which were to identify the current state of organisational change and change resistance in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia, identify the main factors that contribute to change resistance in tourism organisations in the country, and to compare the findings with what has been done in past studies. It can be seen that although the government and the private sector are making efforts to introduce change, some organisations have not implemented change or have not involved their employees in the change process, hence the suggestion by many participants in the research that there is need for change to be implemented in the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. This can been seen from the perceptions that Saudi Arabia over-relies on pilgrimage and religious tourism and that change is required in the tourism industry in the kingdom. To deal with the challenges in the management of the tourism industry as identified in the country – such as resistance to change – it has been suggested that organisational theory such as the force field analysis theory can be used to identify the factors that drive change and those that restrain it, so that the necessary corrective actions can be applied. This is in line with the fourth objective of the research. Recommendations In order to use organisational theory to overcome change resistance, tourism organisations in Saudi Arabia should: Reduce organisational hierarchies and promote more open communication by eliminating their elitist and inflexible structures. By reducing organisational hierarchies and promoting open communication, tourism organisations will be able to harness the skills possessed by their employees in a better way since the employees will be in a better position to utilise their ideas in their places of work. On the contrary, failure to promote open communication and existence of many hierarchies limits employees’ free participation in the activities of their organisations. Use organisational analysis tools such as force field analysis theory to identify the opportunities that exist for them to implement change and the hindrances that exist to implementing change so as to find ways to reduce these hindrances. This will enable such organisations to identify the opportunities that exist for implementing change and the related barriers, and to find ways of overcoming these barriers. Involve employees in all stages of change so that the employees can have a feeling of ‘owning’ the change. When employees ‘own’ the change process, they can fully participate in implementing it, but when they are bulldozed into implementing change, they may stifle even noble ideas due to the socially constructed meanings that they create regarding the change. In addition, there is need for the government of Saudi Arabia to continue promoting change in tourism organisations by encouraging them to invest in more ventures in addition to pilgrimage and religious facilities. This will make Saudi Arabia stand out as a country with diverse tourist attractions and cultures – thus promoting investments in employees from diverse cultures and with diverse skills – which are necessary for promoting change and reducing resistance to change.   References Al Kahtani, A. (2013). Leader charisma, employee organizational commitment, and organizational change: A proposed theoretical framework. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(5), 377-399. Al-Nafjan, A. N., & Al-Mudimigh, A. S. (2011). The impact of change management in ERP system: A case study of MADAR. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology. 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Retrieved from http://qspace.qu.edu.qa/bitstream/handle/10576/8105/120511-0005-fulltext.pdf?sequence=3 Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) (n.d.). Tourism investment in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from http://www.scta.gov.sa/en/TourismInvestment/SupportTourismInvestment/Documents/Touristic_investment_eng.pdf Read More