Richard J. Buning, Faisal Alessa, Milly Chen

Active sport tourism sees tourists travel globally to participate in sport in stunning natural areas (e.g., mountain biking, surfing), of which developing counties have abundantly and are interested in the economic and social benefits. But developing countries typically lack resources beyond the natural areas to develop active sport tourism with the local community and sustainability in mind. Thus, this study investigated the processes, including challenges and critical success factors (CSFs) from the supply side of developing rock-climbing based tourism in Saudi Arabia. In-depth interviews were conducted with key stakeholders (N = 14) from the climbing national governing body, tourism ministry, climbing business owners, and the climbing community. The findings revealed three key elements, (1) sport-based community and pioneers as the driving forces, (2) tourism and sport infrastructure and assets as enablers, and (3) regulations and policy setting as stabilizers, of which numerous connected challenges and CSFs were identified.

Keywords: tourism development, developing countries, stakeholders, critical success factors, sustainability, community

Citation: Buning, R. J., Alessa, F., & Chen, M. (2025). Rock climbing to new heights: 
Developing active sport tourism
in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Sport Management, 26(2), 193-221.

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