International Journal of Human Research and Social Science Studies

This study explores the intersection of digital transformation and sustainable tourism within the framework of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. As the Kingdom diversifies its economy and reduces its dependence on oil, tourism has emerged as a key sector for growth and development. Using a qualitative approach, this research examines how digital technologies, including innovative tourism platforms, data analytics, and digital infrastructure, are being leveraged to support sustainable tourism practices across the nation. Through semi-structured interviews, the study identifies critical drivers, opportunities, and challenges in the digitalisation of the tourism sector. Findings suggest that digital transformation is not only enhancing operational efficiency and visitor experiences but also contributing to environmental conservation, cultural preservation, and inclusive economic development. The paper concludes by emphasizing the strategic role of digital innovation in achieving the sustainability goals of Vision 2030. It offers policy recommendations for fostering a resilient and future-ready tourism industry in Saudi Arabia.

Digital transformation, Tourism sector, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia.

1. Aarabe, M., Khizzou, N. Ben, Alla, L., & Benjelloun, A. (2025). Marketing Applications of Emerging Technologies and Business Performance of Tourism SMEs: A Systematic Literature Review. Models, Strategies, and Tools for Competitive SMEs, 217–242.
2. Abed, S. S. (2024). Acceptance and use of artificial intelligence in online tourism services by Generation Z in Saudi Arabia. IEEE Access.
3. Abuali, A., Alrefaei, A. A., Aljohani, S. A., Aloufi, I. N., Ghabban, F., Ameerbakhsh, O., Alfadli, I., Al-Shehri, A. H., Fallatah, N. A., & Younis, H. A. (2024). The impact of E-commerce on traditional businesses in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Service Science and Management, 17(4), 354–366.
4. Ahmed, S. K., Mohammed, R. A., Nashwan, A. J., Ibrahim, R. H., Abdalla, A. Q., Ameen, B. M. M., & Khdhir, R. M. (2025). Using thematic analysis in qualitative research. Journal of Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health, 6, 100198.
5. Aina, Y. A., Abubakar, I. R., Almulhim, A. I., Dano, U. L., Maghsoodi Tilaki, M. J., & Dawood, S. R. S. (2023). Digitalization and smartification of urban services to enhance urban resilience in the post-pandemic era: the case of the pilgrimage city of Makkah. Smart Cities, 6(4), 1973–1995.
6. Ajlan, A. M., & Al Abed, A. M. (2023). Transformation model towards sustainable smart cities: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a case study. Current Urban Studies, 11(1), 142–178.
7. Akram, H., Raza, M., Jan, M. F., Aslam, S., & Nivin-Vargas, L. (2022). Identified leadership practices and teachers’ professional development in Karachi, Pakistan: the moderation effect of training. Education 3-13, 1–18.
8. Al-Kasasbeh, W., Abu Shalfa, I., & ELHussein, K. (2023). The role of smart applications in fostering the future of digital tourism in the smart city of NEOM from the perspective of Saudi citizens. Journal of Faculty of Education-Assiut University, 39(6.2), 156–168.
9. Al-Khalidi Al-Maliki, S. Q. (2021). Increasing non-oil revenue potentiality through digital commerce: the case study in KSA. Journal of Money and Business, 1(2), 65–83.
10. Al-Thoblany, M. S., & Alyuosef, M. I. (2023). RETRACTED ARTICLE: The role of digital management in improving the performance of tourism sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the light of 2030 vision. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 13(1), 44–58.
11. Al Qurtuby, S. (2024). The Development and Innovation of Religious, Secular, and Archaeological Tourism in Saudi Arabia. Journal for Interdisciplinary Middle Eastern Studies, 10(1).
12. Alammash, S. A., Guo, P. S., & Vinnikova, A. (2021). Saudi Arabia and the heart of Islam in Vision 2030: Impact on international relations. Arab. J. Sci. Publ.(AJSP), 2663, 5798.
13. Alamoudi, A. K., Abidoye, R. B., & Lam, T. Y. M. (2023). Implementing smart sustainable cities in Saudi Arabia: a framework for citizens’ participation towards Saudi vision 2030. Sustainability, 15(8), 6648.
14. Alateeg, S. S., & Alhammadi, A. D. (2023). Traditional retailer’s intention to opt e-commerce for digital retail business in Saudi Arabia. Migration Letters, 20(7), 1307–1326.
15. Alghamdi, F. S., & Nor, R. M. (2023). Evaluating e-commerce engagement factors in Saudi Arabia: Financial loss, identity theft and privacy policies. International Journal of Professional Business Review: Int. J. Prof. Bus. Rev., 8(12), 4.
16. Alghamdi, G., & Wahid, N. A. (2024). The Use of Social Media Marketing Activities to Promote a Tourism Destination: A Review. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(7), 246–259.
17. Alhajri, A. M., & Al-suwaigh, T. S. A. (2024). Unlocking the Future of Tourism in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA): The Synergy of Commercialization Activities and Sustainable Digital Transformation for Sustainable Industry Growth. Business Review of Digital Revolution, 4(2), 18–30.
18. Ali, A., & Salameh, A. A. (2021). Role of travel and tourism sector in the attainment of Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia: An analytical study. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 19(2), 276–290.
19. Aljuwaiber, A., & Elnagar, A. K. (2022). Predicting pilgrim and visitor satisfaction through using smartphone applications at holy sites during covid-19. Virtual Economics, 5(3), 91–108.
20. Almakaty, S. (2025). Tourism Development and Management in Saudi Arabia: Strategic Approaches under Vision 2030.
21. Alnajim, R. A., & Fakieh, B. (2023). A tourist-based framework for developing digital marketing for small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia. Data, 8(12), 179.
22. AlNemer, A. M. (2024). Examining the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Sector and Assessing Its Potential Contributions in Achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Pepperdine University.
23. Alotaibi, A., Alsubaie, D., Alaskar, H., Alhumaid, L., Thuwayni, R. Bin, Alkhalifah, R., & Alhumoud, S. (2022). Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Era of Smart Cities. 2022 2nd International Conference on Computing and Information Technology (ICCIT), 285–292.
24. Alqahtany, A. M. (2025). Smart cities as a pathway to sustainable urbanism in the Arab world: A case analysis of Saudi cities. Sustainability, 17(4), 1525.
25. Alsaawi, A. (2024). Role of machine translation in promoting the tourism sector in support of Saudi Vision 2030. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 7(12), 180–195.
26. Alsahafi, R., Alzahrani, A., & Mehmood, R. (2023). Smarter sustainable tourism: data-driven multi-perspective parameter discovery for autonomous design and operations. Sustainability, 15(5), 4166.
27. Alsharif, A., Isa, S. M., & Alqudah, M. N. (2024). Smart tourism, hospitality, and destination: A systematic review and future directions. Journal of Tourism and Services, 15(29), 72–110.
28. Andejany, M., Malik, A., Ahmad, W., Alharbi, D. A. M., Umar, D. S., Manuhutu, M. A., SURIPATTY, R., TINDAGE, J., MANURUNG, T., & TUPAMAHU, M. (2023). Transformation of urban cities to sustainable smart cities-challenges and opportunities faced by Saudi Arabia. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 101(21), 6663–6676.
29. Anwar, A. H. M. M., & Oakil, A. T. (2023). Smart transportation systems in smart cities: Practices, challenges, and opportunities for Saudi cities. Smart Cities: Social and Environmental Challenges and Opportunities for Local Authorities, 315–337.
30. Asem, A., Mohammad, A. A., & Ziyad, I. A. (2024). Navigating digital transformation in alignment with Vision 2030: A review of organizational strategies, innovations, and implications in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Knowledge Learning and Science Technology ISSN: 2959-6386 (Online), 3(2), 21–29.
31. Asif, M., & Fazel, H. (2024). Factors influencing tourists’ technology adoption in Saudi Arabia: examining determinants for effective use of mobile apps in tourism. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication.
32. Azzam, Z., & Darraz, S. (2025). The Role of Social Media in Promoting Tourism in Saudi Arabia from the Perspective of Tourists. In From Machine Learning to Artificial Intelligence: The Modern Machine Intelligence Approach for Financial and Economic Inclusion (pp. 355–371). Springer.
33. Bastidas-Manzano, A.-B., Sánchez-Fernández, J., & Casado-Aranda, L.-A. (2021). The past, present, and future of smart tourism destinations: a bibliometric analysis. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 45(3), 529–552.
34. Bathran, C., & Samuel, A. J. (2024). A Phenomenological Qualitative Study Protocol and Semi‐Structured Interview Guide Development to Identify Perceptions, Experiences, Facilitators and Inhibitors in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis Undergoing Rehabilitation in a Low‐and Middle‐Income Country. Musculoskeletal Care, 22(4), e70001.
35. D AL-TAYYAR, R. S., Abdullah, A. R. Bin, Abd Rahman, A., & Ali, M. H. (2021). Challenges and obstacles facing SMEs in the adoption of e-commerce in developing countries; A case of Saudi Arabia. Studies of Applied Economics, 39(4).
36. Dehghani Firoozabadi, A., Raeesi Nafchi, S., & Andalib Ardakani, V. (2024). Developing Future Scenarios for Investment in Religious Tourism in Saudi Arabia Using a Structural Approach. International Journal of Tourism, Culture & Spirituality, 7(2), 207–231.
37. Gómez-Ceballos, G., Menoya-Zayas, S., & Vázquez-Loaiza, J. P. (2023). ICT as a Support for Value Chain Management in Tourism Destinations: The Case of the City of Cuenca, Ecuador. Sustainability, 15(13), 10181.
38. Gretzel, U. (2022). The Smart DMO: A new step in the digital transformation of destination management organizations. European Journal of Tourism Research, 30, 3002.
39. Hammami, H. (2025). Transforming Tourism: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Innovation in Saudi Arabia. 2025 4th International Conference on Computing and Information Technology (ICCIT), 312–319.
40. Iqbal, T., & Aftab, F. (2025). Exploring Tourism’s Contribution to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030: Aligning with UN SDG 8 for Sustainable Growth. International Journal of Sustainable Development & Planning, 20(3).
41. Khalid, R., Raza, M., Selem, K. M., Ghaderi, Z., & Raza, H. (2023). Natural disaster is a wakeup call before it becomes social disaster and tourophobia of eco-destinations. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 28(11), 1226–1240. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2023.2293789
42. Knight, S., Viberg, O., Mavrikis, M., Kovanović, V., Khosravi, H., Ferguson, R., Corrin, L., Thompson, K., Major, L., & Lodge, J. (2024). Emerging technologies and research ethics: Developing editorial policy using a scoping review and reference panel. PloS One, 19(10), e0309715.
43. Koswara, A. (2025). The Future of Smart Tourism: Integrating AI, IoT, and Big Data for Enhanced Travel Experiences. Journal Hotspot, 3(1), 18–31.
44. Mir, R. N., & Kulibi, T. A. (2023). Tourism as an engine for economic diversification: An exploratory study of Saudi Arabia’s tourism strategy and marketing initiatives. Saudi Journal of Business and Management Studies, 8(8), 186–201.
45. Muzari, T., Shava, G. N., & Shonhiwa, S. (2022). Qualitative research paradigm, a key research design for educational researchers, processes and procedures: A theoretical overview. Indiana Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(1), 14–20.
46. Nabila, E. M. (2023). Digital transformation and AI in tourism: trends, challenges, and successful experiences. Economic Studies, 23(01), 522–545.
47. Pei, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2021). A study on the integrated development of artificial intelligence and tourism from the perspective of smart tourism. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1852(3), 32016.
48. Qasim, S., Raza, M., Ilyas, M. A., Ansari, H. W. A., & Khalid, R. (2025). Do not take every workplace problem to home: a role of social support to manage employees’ work stressors and conflicts with family. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication.
49. Raza, M., Khalid, R., & Raza, H. (2023). Surviving and thriving through a crisis: a resiliency branding approach to transform airline industry. Kybernetes, 52(7), 2470–2487.
50. Salem, M. H., Selem, K. M., Khalid, R., Raza, M., & Valeri, M. (2023). Humorous leadership, upward voice and resistance to change in the hotel context: from affective events theory perspective. European Business Review, 35(5), 737–762.
51. Sun, D., Zhou, Y., Ali, Q., & Khan, M. T. I. (2025). The role of digitalization, infrastructure, and economic stability in tourism growth: A pathway towards smart tourism destinations. Natural Resources Forum, 49(2), 1308–1329.
52. Talukder, M. B., Kabir, F., Mia, M. N., & Khan, M. R. (2024). Application of smart technologies in the development and promotion of religious tourism destination. In Cultural, gastronomy, and adventure tourism development (pp. 71–88). IGI Global.