السياحة البيئية بمحافظة الأحساء : تحليل جغرافي

Abstract EN

Tourism is one of the most important sources of national revenue for many countries of the world.

Consequently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has put tourism among the priorities of the national transformation 2020 and Vision 2030.

To improve tourism practices and reduce their environmental impacts, the Kingdom has given interest to environmental tourism, which combines recreation and preserving diversity in natural environments.

For The Reason of its large area and the diversity of its natural phenomena, Al-Ahsa Governorate has many tourism components such as the Aloquir coast and the seas of Sand dunes that surround it from three sides.

The topography features also vary between the edges of the plateaus, as Shadqum, Adailiya, and some isolated hills, like Khurma, Al-Thalim, Jabal Arbaa, and Jabal Al-Qarah.

The study aimed to identify population trends towards ecotourism in Al-Ahsa, by identifying the most important components of tourism, and study the tourism activities that can be practiced by residents without disturbing the environmental ecosystem.

To achieve the aim of the study, a descriptive analytical approach was used, and the study sample included 78.1% males and 21.9% females.

Result appears, the most respondent's preferred practice tourist activities with their families 61.6%, and 24.7% preferred with friends And the proportion of 5.5% with co-workers, while 8.2 prefer to walk alone.

The study provided that some of the traditional activities are supporting eco-tourism, as it was noticed that 46.5% prefer camping activity in the sand dunes areas, and 42.4 % preferred the falconry sports as a tourist attraction factor.

The study found that natural water springs to support agricultural tourism activity amounted to 42.4%, while medical tourism activity was 39.7%.

The study showed that about 53.4% of those included in the study respondents expressed their willingness to reintroduce some of the endangered animals to the AL Asfar Natural Reserve to develop the ecotourism.

The research recommended focusing on popular activities for developing eco-tourism in the sites covered by the study, which include camel riding, falconry competition, diving and pearling.

It also recommended the necessity to encourage organized tourism investment to develop eco-tourism in Al-Ahsa Governorate