The Impact of Tourism Development on The Quality of Urban Life .A Case Study of Al Ula, Saudi Arabia

This study investigates the impacts of tourism development on the quality of urban life (QoUL) for the residents of Al Ula, Saudi Arabia – an area of focus in the Vision 2030 framework. A quantitative research approach was adopted in a survey of 250 residents. The results show that there was an overall improvement in the QoUL as tourism has brought employment opportunities, increased earnings and development of facilities. However, these increases in QoL measures are not uniformly dispersed across the population which raises the issues of increasing cost of living, income disparity and marginalization. Tourism boosts the preserving of cultures and instils sense of belonging but the challenges of cultural heritage commercialization, overpopulation of tourists and pollution are real. The findings also highlight of disparities within the community where there are greater benefits to the younger, not so educated and active in the tourism industry, whereas women, older generation and the non-active in tourism tend to be more worried about the outcome of tourism. Also, lack of active input from the residents and the management decisions that are not transparent also impair the overall satisfaction of the residents. The study emphasizes that in order to eliminate the adverse effects of economic growth and culture as well as environment degradation in Al Ula, there is need for implementation of appropriate policies in relation to the tourism sector.