السياحة البيئية وتنمية المستوطنات الحضرية الصغيرة في الصحاري القاحلة: حالة مدينة جبة (صحراء النفود الكبير)‎ المملكة العربية السعودية

Abstract EN

Ecotourism is the fastest-growing form of tourism in the world.

The deserts by their expansive spatial scopes have great potential, offering a large variety of attractions for the development of desert tourism, one of the most promising and exciting types of ecotourism.

Ecotourism is also one of the best means to achieve economic, social and environmental development in arid desert and poor rural areas.

The aim of this study is to determine the natural and human geographical characteristics which can be used for the development of ecotourism and to establish the extent of potential benefits available from ecotourism by contributions for the development of small urban centers in the arid desert environments.

The study focused on Jubbah city which is located in the Great An Nafud (ANNUFUD AL KABIR) desert in Hail province Northern of Saudi Arabia.

The discussions of the study elements and its findings showed that, Jubbah is one of the richest regions in the Kingdom for environmental characteristics and unique natural landscapes.

These are additional to the cultural and heritage features, especially the famous ancient rock art carvings which have been registered in the world heritage List in the middle of 2015.

But, on the other hand it is almost entirely lacking in basic components, infrastructure and tourism services that would be essential to make it an attractive destination for tourists within and outside the Kingdom.

The study concluded with a number of recommendations and there is a lot of work which can be done for the development of tourism, for the benefit of the available environmental properties and ingredients in Jubbah, and using them for the development of tourism, thus Jubbah can become one of the important tourist centers in the Kingdom.

The ecotourism development will be reflected in various development programs and improve the economic level of the population, as well as achieving sustainable development in such poor desert environments.