EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON RELIGIOUS TOURISM IN SAUDI ARABIA (Dissertation Sample)

EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON RELIGIOUS TOURISM IN SAUDI ARABIA Name of Student Course Name of Professor University Date Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Religious Tourism in Saudi Arabia Chapter Two Religious tourism is a key feature in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's economy as it strives toward being less dependent on oil and gas revenues. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with diverse regulations that affected how people travel and interact. To curtail the spread of the virus, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The COVID-19 curfews and restrictions affected the lifestyle of people and affected tourism, a crucial segment of the Kingdom's economy. Annually, Mecca receives millions of pilgrims who visit the city for Hajj and Umrah. In 2019, the Hajj revenue contributed to 7 percent of Saudi Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as Havrlant et al. (2020) report. Both Umrah and Hajj contributed an estimated $12 billion, representing 20 percent of revenues from non-oil GDP. In 2021 the pandemic limited the number of pilgrims visiting Saudi Arabia for Hajj to 60,000, while only 1000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia were allowed on the pilgrimage in 2020 (Mathews, 2021). The pandemic restricted people from attending the Hajj and Umrah, which play. The two play a critical role in Saudi Arabia's tourism sector, a critical source of revenue for the Kingdom as it moves to diversify its revenue sources. This research provides an understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia. Literature Map -249382361999Reduced temple stays in Japan (Progano, 2021)0Reduced temple stays in Japan (Progano, 2021) 2778307177025COVID19 pandemic00COVID19 pandemic20238772368550 -201881414845Restriction of some religious performances (Progano, 2021)00Restriction of some religious performances (Progano, 2021) 236295940178Pathogen-stress theoryProtection motivation theory (PMT)The planned behaviour (TPB) (Brookes, 2022).00Pathogen-stress theoryProtection motivation theory (PMT)The planned behaviour (TPB) (Brookes, 2022). left294005Increased requests for full refunds of travel costs among many pilgrims (Raj, 2020)00Increased requests for full refunds of travel costs among many pilgrims (Raj, 2020) 17800952999180 2683823187079Saudi Arabia Economy00Saudi Arabia Economyleft8948 Cancellation of flights, lodging, meal packages, and tour guides (Progano, 2021)00 Cancellation of flights, lodging, meal packages, and tour guides (Progano, 2021) -635316865Revenue decline for airlines (Parveen, 2020)00Revenue decline for airlines (Parveen, 2020) A Purpose of the Study The study aims at finding the impacts of the COVID-19 on religious tourism in the Kingdom. The study will also provide insight into the behavior change in Mecca after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. The research also plans to evaluate the existing remedies for dealing with the pandemic to protect Saudi Arabia's tourism sector from its adverse effects. The study thereby aids in establishing knowledge on how the COVID- 19 pandemic has affected Islamic pilgrimage as a tourism activity in Saudi Arabia. Explanation of the Structure This section aims at providing literature that contributes knowledge to the topic under study. This part begins with discussing the theoretical literature to provide a clear understanding of the evolution of theories linked to the topic under study. Prior empirical studies related to the topic of interest will be discussed while highlighting different research methods used and the results of the studies. This section will conclude with a summary of relevant theories and concepts used in the paper. Additionally, a summary of the prior research and the related findings will also be presented. The literature to be used for the study include different empirical studies about the nature and performance of the hospitality industry in the Kingdom. The sources will also include other theoretical literature linked to the study. Theoretical Literature The COVID-19 pandemic brought a substantial drop in demand across the globe. The pandemic saw a period where travel restrictions meant a substantially low record of hotel bookings. As the COVI-19 pandemic ravaged the world in 2019, people had to adopt new 1781175-17573625behavioral practices to help halt the spread of the infection and the ultimate cost of infection (Rahman et al., 2021). According to the pathogen-stress theory, during a pandemic, people tend to adopt behavioral changes to avoid the spread of the infection or avoid the ultimate cost of the infection. The pathogen-stress theory is anchored on the behavioral immune system, which entails psychological characteristics and behaviors on avoiding contact with infectious diseases, altruism, in-group social preference, and alliance. The contagion avoidance perspective of behavioral immunity also includes a preference for local regions and avoidance of foreign people and regions where a given pathogen may be available. The pathogen-stress theory provides a basis for how people tend to respond to a given global pandemic. According to the theory, diseases lead to isolation cases and changes in behaviors among people, societies/cultures, and regions. When COVID-19 was announced as a global pandemic, this announcement substantially affected how people behaved onwards. The theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) shows how beliefs affect people's behavior (Brookes, 2022). According to the theory, behaviors are linked to intentions that rely on factors such as; subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived behavioral control. A significant assertion of the model indicates that behavioral intentions are affected by the attitude of the probability that the behavior will bear the anticipated outcome and the subjective appraisal of the risks and benefits of the outcome. According to the model, an individual's behavior is likely to adopt depending on motivation (intention) and ability (behavioral control). When the pandemic took root on the continent, public campaigns and advertisements revealed to the public the implications of the COVID-19. Daily reports on new COVID-19 infections, recoveries, and death toll greatly influenced individuals to protect themselves from infection. The protection motivation theory (PMT) is a crucial model that aims at helping further understand human responses to fear appeals. According to the theory, individuals tend to protect themselves for two reasons; coping appraisal and threat appraisal. The former refers to how an individual respond to the situation. At the same time, the latter entails the anticipated severity of a threatening event and the perceived likelihood of the event happening. The coping appraisal is based on an individual's expectation that adhering to the recommended action will eradicate the threat. Therefore, this theory explains the behavioral change that preceded the COVID-19 outbreak (Ezati Rad et al., 2021). According to the theories discussed above, individuals are likely to change their behavior under a given pandemic. The ability to adopt a given behavior depends on the motivation and ability of an individual to adopt the behavior. When individuals believe that adopting a certain behavior is likely to eradicate the threat, they are motivated to adopt the behavior. Consumers globally adopted new behaviors to cope with the pandemic, which affected businesses in certain economic segments. Review of Empirical Studies There exist limited studies on the impacts of COVID-19 on a religious pilgrimage. Empirical studies on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected religious tourism, particularly in Saudi Arabia, are extremely limited. A study by Progano (2021) on the impact of COVID-19 on temple stays provides knowledge of the impact of the pandemic on religious tourism and pilgrimage. The study employs a case study from Koyasan, Japan, where religious tourism is evident. Temple stays have become a common tourism experience provided by Buddhist temples that accommodate non-associated guests to their lodging services. The facilities provide visitors with exceptional experiences founded on the traditional culture and rituals. The study employs Faulkner's tourism disaster management framework to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This framework has also been used in prior studies to examine tourism management and pandemics. The study employed interviews with respondents from private, public, and religious stakeholders as their actions and experiences are essential in determining the impacts of the COVID-19. The data obtained was contextualized using the official statistics from the Japanese National Tourism Organization (JNTO) with Faulkner's framework to structure the findings. The study's findings on the impact of COVID-19 on temple stays have been developed in different phases based on the stage of progression of the pandemic. The findings of the case study by Progano (2021) stretch from the pre-event phase. In Japan, the period began on January 15th, when the number of confirmed cases was low, with only 31 reported by January 31st, 2020 (Progano, 2022). During this period, travel restrictions were not yet imposed as inbound tourism recorded minimal negative growth. The findings reveal that during this period, there were no confirmed cases in Koyasan. Additionally, findings revealed no major changes in the managerial decisions or individual behavior in Koyasan during the Pre-Event Phase. The prodromal phase refers to the duration from February to March 2020, when the infection further spreads across the nation. The national government introduced entry restrictions and requested citizens to restrict their outings and cancel their events voluntarily. In Koyasan, to halt the infection rate, some religious performances were partially restrained. These rituals include the purification rituals undertaken before entering the temple. In thes...