Low profitability is one of the most significant reasons behind the decline in domestic tourism. If tourism profits decrease, particularly during the off-tourism season, the return on investment will naturally decrease. When profits become low, local investors tend, as a result, to stop expanding their businesses and begin to raise the prices of their products or services to compensate for the off-season. Needless to say, when prices go up, tourists will notice the increase, especially when it is not commensurate with the quality of services being offered to them. And when they compare local prices with the rates in some countries, where tourism seasons continue throughout the year, they will see the differences. Obviously, it is important that a new strategy in local tourism be designed to attract foreign tourists to spend their vacations in the Kingdom. Of course, this should be done according to certain regulations which tourists should follow and which tourist offices can promote. Tourist offices could market domestic tourism to foreign tourists and issue electronic tourist visas within two days. They could provide guarantees that tourists do not overstay their visas. Here, we could rely on the successful experiences during the Umrah seasons to design a system to control the movement of tourists. Demand for domestic tourism should be expected to increase dramatically. Thousands of people around the world are keen to learn about Saudi culture and civilization first-hand and, many of them, Muslims in particular, are searching for conservative tourism. Conservatism is one of the strong points distinguishing the Kingdom from other tourist destinations. Sponsors of domestic tourism could market Saudi Arabia, particularity when designing tourism strategies, by making it alluring to Muslims the world over. After all, many conservative families would love to spend their vacation in a conservative society where they are not exposed to improper scenes and obscene places. It would be difficult, of course, to attract citizens to spend their vacations here and enjoy conservative tourism when they are searching for other tourism products and services. But most Saudis are conservative and observe proper religious practices. They feel indignant when they see improper scenes. It is this sector of society on which local tourism should focus. They are the ones who want to enjoy vacations that are commensurate with the quality of service and keep their families away from inappropriate influences. Perhaps many tourists are not keen on the idea of local tourism because we have not developed this sector as we should. Local tourism lacks high-quality services and diversified tourist attractions. When the domestic tourism sector started to follow traditional tourism ideas, a large number of local tourists were not given any choice but to spend their holidays in other countries. It is very important that we focus more on the strong points of local tourism and offer products that meet the expectations of conservative families. When we do this, we will see an influx of tourists coming to the Kingdom to spend their vacations here. * Chairman of Board of Directors of Manafea Holding Company __
