Diriyah Gate: The role of architecture in sustainable tourism development

Omar Al-Kindi

Architecture is an expression of the lifestyle and spirit of a city and is a product of the legacy of the ages and cultures in which it originated, while tourism is a scenario of “introducing the city to an unfamiliar audience”, it is difficult to discuss tourism without architecture as they are highly dependent on each other and are closely related activities since ancient times, where architectural edifices had a very important role as tourist attractions and through the architectural icons in which they were built they (monuments) were the basis of cultural and architectural tourism for ancient cities.

From here we conclude that tourism is a way to introduce a city to an unfamiliar audience. <From here we conclude that tourism is greatly influenced by many factors, the most prominent and most important of which is “architecture” as it is one of the commodities of tourist consumption; therefore, the physical form of architecture and the aesthetics of the place are two basic components to make the place distinguishable, and generate a sense of place, which is a point of attraction for tourists; as there is an innate relationship between humans, architectural buildings and the environment that contains these buildings, which often serves as an invitation Thus, the role of architecture in economic development is related to its impact on tourism and all its associated economic, cultural and political components, as this role is reflected in providing extensive direct and indirect job opportunities and a factor that stimulates investment and development of the local economy, which reflects positively on per capita income.

<To simplify the concept of the role of architecture in sustainable tourism development as described by the World Tourism Organization, the guidelines for sustainable development and sustainable tourism management practices apply to all forms of tourism in all destinations, including mass tourism and various other types of tourism, and thus sustainable tourism is characterized by the vision it adopts in the long term regarding its development and its various impacts, for example, social, cultural, economic, etc. Sustainable tourism also requires the active participation of many overlapping parties in order to achieve all the desired goals. <When mentioning these goals, I cannot help but cite the vision of my master, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, may God protect him, “Vision 2030”, which has become a living example to be followed globally in adopting and studying ideas and then quickly and accurately implementing them on the ground with all professionalism, which made it “dazzle the listener before the viewer”, including the project of the historical capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “Diriyah Gate”, a vital cultural tourism project established by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, may God protect him in 2019. To restore ancient heritage buildings that are more than 600 years old on a total area of 1,500,000 square meters. Which includes the largest Islamic museum in the world, and includes an integrated mud city, which is a unique architectural masterpiece that reflects the heritage, culture and heritage of the authentic Saudi people, as it is clear to those who follow the news of this unique architectural edifice how accurate and fully committed to its completion under the supervision and follow-up of His Highness, this is the basic principle for success in addressing any aspect of tourism development, as all plans must proceed after studying them locally, regionally and internationally simultaneously and by coordinating and linking them all to achieve sustainable tourism development.

From the above, it can be seen that all plans must be studied locally, regionally and internationally at the same time and with coordination and linking them all to achieve sustainable tourism development. From the above, it is clear that architecture has a great impact on tourism, through several interconnections, foremost of which is the ability of architecture to create and generate symbolic landmarks embodied by specific buildings that in turn become areas of tourist attraction from inside and outside, which in turn affects the economic aspect in a positive way.

@OMARALKENDI