Soft power in travel and tourism: Saudi Arabia's global tourism strategy

¶ … America's tactics during the Cold War, the term "soft power" has come to mean the use of policies at the national, regional and local levels that can achieve a wide range of desirable outcomes. One of the desired outcomes of the Saudi Arabian national leadership in recent years has been to increase the number of international visitors that travel to the kingdom each year. Millions of Muslim religious pilgrims already visit the kingdom every year to complete their religious obligations by visiting Mecca, and to a lesser extent Medina, during the Hajj, and a substantial percentage of these pilgrims are visiting other Saudi tourist destinations as part of their experience. Moreover, the Saudi national leadership has invested heavily in developing the infrastructure needed to facilitate these visits, and has embarked on an aggressive campaign to increase the number of non-religious pilgrims from around the world. In this environment, identifying effective approaches to achieving these desirable outcomes represents a timely and valuable enterprise which is the focus of the study proposed herein. The investigation of soft power requires an interdisciplinary and even transdisciplinary examination of the world-making role and function of tourism. While the proposed study will be targeted at identifying best practices, it will be critically oriented to determining how soft power can be used to promote travel and tourism in Saudi Arabia today and in the future.

Soft Power in Travel and Tourism: A Study of the Projection of Peoples, Places, and Pasts in Saudi Arabia

Background

The concept of "soft power" was coined by Harvard professor Joseph S. Nye, Jr. In Bound to Lead, a book he wrote in 1989. Because the term has been frequently misapplied since that time, Nye suggests that a more accurate definition of soft power is needed. To this end, Nye defines soft power as, "The ability of a country to attract others arises from its culture, its values and domestic practices, and the perceived legitimacy of its foreign policies" (2004: 5). According to Nye, the use of soft power is sharply contrasted with so-called "hard power" which typically involves the use of more heavy-handed tactics, including military interventions. In fact, Sutter (2007) defines soft power even more broadly to include any method used to achieve international influence that does not involve military action. In this regard, Nye adds that, "Soft power is getting others to want the outcomes that you want. The ability to establish preferences tends to be associated with intangible power resources such as an attractive culture, political values and institutions, and policies that are seen as legitimate or having moral authority" (2004: 5). More recently, Nye extended the concept of soft power beyond nations to the individual level. In this regard, Nye and his colleague Jisi (the dean of Peking University of International Studies) advise, "Soft power rests on the ability to shape the preferences of others. This type of power does not belong to any one country. Nor does soft power belong solely to countries. At the personal level, individuals know the power of attraction and seduction" (2009: 18). In sharp contrast to hard power, Nye also notes that soft power "is more difficult to wield, many of its crucial resources are outside the control of governments, and their effects depend heavily on acceptance by the receiving audiences" (2004: 99). In addition, unlike hard power, soft power typically requires more time to yield the desired outcomes (Nye 2004). These constraints indicate that there is more involved in applying soft power effectively than simply printing some travel brochures and that the sooner soft power methods are applied, the sooner the desired outcomes can be achieved.

Focus

Although the primary focus of the study proposed herein will be on the use of soft power methods to grow the travel and tourism industry in Saudi Arabia, its use in other countries will also be reviewed to help critically formulate a set of best practices that can be applied to the Saudi's unique circumstances.

Rationale

Given its importance to many nations' economies, it is little wonder that an increasing amount of attention is being directed at how to grow the travel and tourism industry in different regions of the world today, most especially the Middle East. According to Wells (2007), billions of dollars have been invested by Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia in recent years in an effort to make their travel and tourism destinations more desirable for international travelers. According to Wells, "Travel and tourism activity in the Middle East region is expected to grow by 4.4% per annum in real terms between 2007 and 2016. The travel and tourism sector in 2006 will generate $148 billion in the Middle East, with a target figure of $279.4 billion by 2016. The industry is expected to contribute 2.6% ($27.3 billion) to GDP in 2006, rising in nominal terms to 58.9 billion (3.1% of total) by 2016" (2007: 42).

Although the competition for travel and tourism revenues is fierce in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia continues to attract a disproportionate percentage of international visitors, due in large part to the fact that the holy cities of Mecca and Medina are located there. In this regard, Wells adds that, "Saudi Arabia hosts the millions of people who travel to the country annually as pilgrims; now, other forms of religious tourism are also being promoted in the country" (2007: 43). This trend is a stark departure from the policies of the Saudi Arabian leadership of just a few years ago when tourism was discouraged (Jafari 2000).

There are also a number of indications that Saudi Arabia is now using soft power to encourage international visitors, Muslim and others alike, to visit the country. For instance, one significant policy shift involves a relaxation of visa requirements for foreign visitors in order to attract more tourists to the kingdom (Wells 2007). The political leadership in Saudi Arabia has also collaborated with the private sector to promote increased international travel and tourism (Wells 2007). Consequently, Saudi Arabia is increasingly hosting both religious visitors to the country who may or may not complement their pilgrimage with ancillary tourism as well as international tourists who may or may not be Muslim. Nevertheless, the vast majority of current visitors to the kingdom remain religious pilgrims completing their Hajj obligations. As Jafari points out, "The Hajj brings millions of pilgrims (definitionally tourists) each year to Saudi Arabia, where this and other holy places are located, and the pilgrims both on Hajj and umrah (done not on the prescribed annual date) form the major part of foreign visitors to this country" (2000: 270).

Taken together, the foregoing trends indicate that the travel and tourism industry is going to become an increasingly important element in the Saudi gross national product in the years to come, especially for religious pilgrims who have already made the trip. For instance, Jafari emphasizes that, "From the perspective of tourism, the religious motive is only one among many which impels tourism movements" (2000: 498). Consequently, identifying how soft power policies can help facilitate this goal represents a timely and valuable enterprise. In this regard, Wells adds that, "Millions of pilgrims travel to holy sites such as Mecca every year. Pilgrimage is big business. Saudi Arabia is currently leading the way in expanding its religious tourism sectors" (2007: 48). Although it is reasonable to suggest that a significant percentage of the millions of people who take the time and invest the resources to complete their religious pilgrimage to Mecca and adjunct visits to Medina may want to explore the country further without any additional inducement, for others, particularly non-Muslims, attracting international visitors to Saudi Arabia during the Hajj and throughout the rest of the year makes the policy agenda needed to apply soft power tactics all the more important. Therefore, Saudi Arabia appears to be experiencing a boom in its travel and tourism industry for two fundamental reasons:

1. The kingdom hosts the Hajj which draws millions of pilgrims each year; and,

2. Many Middle Eastern citizens are highly affluent and can afford to spend significant amounts of money on travel and tourism (Wells 2007).

The foregoing assertion is supported by Wells who points out, "Not only does the Middle East receive many thousands of visitors, it also has a vast spending power, with Saudi Arabia one of the biggest for outbound markets. UAE travellers spend . . . An average of $1,700 per trip, which is $500 higher than the European average" (2007: 48). In other words, the travel and tourism industry is already in full swing in Saudi Arabia and all signs indicate that this industry will continue to expand in the future. The harsh reality of the situation, though, is that Saudi Arabia may have a difficult time attracting additional international visitors from outside the Middle East unless and until it takes the steps needed to overcome its perception as a staid and highly restrictive society that does not welcome outsiders, particularly in the post-September 11, 2001 climate -- and this is where national policies based on soft power become especially important.

The total number of religious pilgrims who complete the Hajj each year has experienced steady growth over the years as shown in Table 1 and Figures 1 through 3 below; it is important to note that the number of Saudi citizens who are participating in the Hajj has decreased somewhat during this period while the number of non-Saudi visitors has experienced steady increases.

Table 1

Number of Hajj pilgrims: 1996-2006

Year

Saudis

Non-Saudis

Total

1996

784,769

1,080,465

1,865,234

1997

774,260

1,168,591

1,942,851

1998

699,770

1,132,344

1,832,114

1999

775,268

1,056,730

1,831,998

2000

571,599

1,267,555

1,839,154

2001

549,271

1,363,992

1,913,263

2002

590,576

1,354,184

1,944,760

2003

610,117

1,431,012

2,041,129

2004

592,368

1,419,706

2,012,074

2006

629,710

1,534,769

2,164,469

Source: Hajj and Umrah Statistics, Ministry of Hajj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2008.

Figure 1. Number of Saudis who completed the Hajj during the period from 1996 to 2006

Source: Ministry of Hajj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2010)

Figure 2. Number of Non-Saudi residents who completed the Hajj during the period from 1996 to 2006

Source: Ministry of Hajj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2010)

Figure 3. Total Number of Pilgrims completing the Hajj: 1996 -- 2006

Source: Ministry of Hajj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2010)

Definition of Key Terms

The proposed study will use the definitions for the key terms that are described in Table 3 below.

Table 3

Definition of Key Terms

Key Term

Definition

Hajj

This term refers to the religious pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are obligated to perform at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially capable of doing so (Gearon 2006:44).

Soft power

For the purposes of the proposed study, this term will use the definition provided by Nye: "A country may obtain the outcomes it wants . . . because other countries -- admiring values, emulating its example, aspiring to its level of prosperity and openness - want to follow it" (2004: 5).

Umrah

This term means "visitation" and ". . . involves visiting the holy sites at other times of the year. Many who are on pilgrimage also perform the umrah rituals before, during, or after the hajj. However, performing the umrah does not fulfill the hajj obligation" (Esposito 2002: 21).

Recap

The research showed that the term "soft power" was originally used to describe the methods used by the United States during the Cold War to "win the hearts and minds" of people in other countries. Since that time, the term has become more applicable to any method that is used to persuade others based on moral authority, an enviable culture or other factors. The research also showed that the travel and tourism industry is enormously important to the economies of many countries and that the Saudi national leadership has recognized the importance of this industry to its future. The kingdom already enjoys the flood of Muslim humanity that visits each year to complete the Hajj, and tens of thousands more are visiting Saudi Arabia for pleasure- and educational-related tourism as well. To ensure this growth continues and expands in the future, the proposed study intends to identify ways that soft power methods can be used to help overcome any lingering doubts about the kingdom in the minds of international visitors.