The Impact of Religious Tourism on Mecca Economy in Saudi Arabia

The Impact of Religious Tourism on Mecca Economy in Saudi Arabia
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Introduction
Mecca, a holy land for the Muslims in Saudi Arabia is believed to be home to Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Mohammed’s place of birth is believed to be in Mecca. This is the same place where Muslims allege he was also descended upon by the Holy Quran in the propagation of Islam. In the dogmas of the Muslim, this land is believed to be the holiest and today has become a historical monument. The economic status of this city greatly depends on the influx of large numbers of pilgrims visiting the site every year, with hotels accommodating, feeding and transporting guests (Berkey, 2003). Muslims from all walks of life travel to Mecca to visit this monument to perform Umrah and Hajj each year.
As the centre of the Islamic world, Mecca only accommodates the Muslim's faithful. Non-Muslims are always forbidden from entering Mecca anytime of the year since such travels are only meant for the Muslims. Millions of Muslim guests come to Mecca from all over the globe thus making it the largest pilgrimage in the world.
The rationale for the research paper is to understand the prospects of religious tourism in the advancement of the economy (Berkey, 2003). An analysis on the importance of religious tourism, and its impact to the economy of Mecca and its constituents will lead us into appropriate measures that the government of Saudi Arabia can employ in improving religious tourism in Mecca.
The purpose of this study revolves around understanding the dynamics of religious tourism and discovers analytical approaches of broadening the aspects of religious tourism in Mecca as a revenue earner. To achieve these results, it is important that an appraisal is conducted in order to establish how Muslims view religious tourism and the principal destinations for this type of tourism.
In addition to this, it is also imperative that an understanding is created in finding out how much interest is there for religious tourism, the destinations that attract tourists and the reasons behind religious tourism. In achieving this, a questionnaire was formulated and distributed across different Mosques. The questionnaire comprised of a set of structured questions and two open-ended questions (Berkey, 2003). The results were later calculated and evaluated using a quantitative approach.
Objectives and Aims of this Research
Generally, this study intends to ascertain the impact of religious tourism on the economy of Saudi Arabia, including its influences to the local community. The research paper also seeks to find out the government of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives of improving religious tourism in Mecca. In doing this, the research paper will seek to also create a platform for understanding religious tourism.
Benefits
Through this research, we seek to create an understanding of the importance of religious tourism to a country and how it holistically affects the society. The findings of this paper will help analyze approaches that can enhance the cause of religious tourism by seeking for other strategies that can boost the growth of tourism and increase the revenue process of the Muslim Nation (Henderson, 2011). When the findings of th...