This book examines the challenges and opportunities for the development of tourism in the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The work provides country-specific illustrations as well as comparative assessments within the GCC region and draws on the extensive knowledge and experience of leading academics in a range of social science disciplines. This timely and original contribution is a valuable reading for students, researchers and academics in the fields of Tourism, Economics, Development Studies and Middle East Studies.

List illustrations
List of contributors
Acknowledgements

Introduction: Deciphering International Tourism Development in the GCC region Marcus L. Stephenson

Part One: Tourism Development and the Gulf Cooperation Council Region

1. Theoretical Approaches to the Political Economy of Tourism in the GCC States Matthew Gray

2. Tourism and Geopolitics in the GCC Region Dallen J. Timothy

3. Discourses of Tourism and Identity in the Arabian Peninsula William G. Feighery

4. Towards an Integrated Transport Network in the GCC Region: Fostering Tourism and Regional Cooperation Arnd N. Bätzner and Marcus L. Stephenson

Part Two: The Challenges of International Tourism Development at a National Level

5. Tourism Development in Bahrain: Dealing with Flux and Transformation Samer Bagaeen

6. (No) Tourism in Kuwait: Why Kuwaitis are Ambivalent about Developing Tourism Marjorie Kelly

7. Tourism Development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Determining the Problems and Resolving the Challenges Erdogan Ekiz, Zafer Öter and Marcus L. Stephenson

8. Tourism Development Challenges in Qatar: Diversification and Growth Nadine Scharfenort

9. Evaluating Ecotourism Challenges in Oman Hafidh Al-Riyami, Noel Scott, Ahmad M. Ragab and Jafar Jafari

Part Three: Destinations and Opportunities

10. Examining the Marketing Opportunities of Sharjah as an Islamic Tourism Destination Nicholas J. Ashill, Paul Williams and Prakash Chathoth

11. Kuwait: Why Tourism? Peter Burns and Lyn Bibbings

12. Deciphering the Environmental Impact of Tourism Development in Dubai: Developing Sustainable Directives and a Citizenship Agenda Marcus L. Stephenson and Anuradha Vyas

13. Pilgrimage and Tourism Development in Saudi Arabia: Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities Joan C. Henderson

14. Transnational Heritage in Abu Dhabi: Power, Politics and Identity Sarina Wakefield

15. A Critical Evaluation of the Potentiality of Tourism and Destination Development in Failaka Island Cody Morris Paris

Afterword: Beyond Petromodernity: Excavating Pathways for Khaleeji Tourism Studies Waleed Hazbun

Index

Marcus L. Stephenson is a Professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management, and Dean of the School of Hospitality at Sunway University (Malaysia). Prior to this appointment in October 2017, he was Professor and Head of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of the South Pacific (Fiji). Marcus holds a PhD in Social Tourism from Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) and he has published extensively on the sociology of tourism, especially concerning nationality, race, ethnicity, culture and religion. His current research interests focus on Islamic hospitality and tourism, and tourism development in the GCC and South Pacific region. He is co-author of Tourism and Citizenship: Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities in the Global Order, a Routledge publication (2014).

Ala Al-Hamarneh is an Assistant Professor of Human Geography and Senior Researcher at the Centre for Research on the Arab World (CERAW), Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. He is also a visiting professor at the University of Sharjah (UAE). He holds a Masters in Human Geography and a PhD in Economic and Social Geography from Kiev State University, Ukraine. Ala co-edited Islam and Muslims in Germany (2008), which was the December 2008 Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title Award Winner (USA). Currently he is involved in research on intra-regional mobilities in the GCC region and neoliberal urban developments in the Arab world.