According to a recent report in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom is home to over 11,600 open spaces that could be used for cultural events and activities.
These spaces include festival grounds, children’s playgrounds, urban centers, municipal squares and public parks, as well as 48 well known heritage markets.
The markets make for a perfect example of the types of spaces available for cultural events and festivals to be held at as they represent a commercial and busy environment in which there is diversity between the people that interact there.
The report regarding the number of open spaces in Saudi Arabia also conveyed that as of late, there have been increasing numbers of tourist trips that included them attending cultural events – with a total of 10.5 million trips in the first 10 months of 2021. There has been a growth rate of 24% in the tourism industry in comparison to figures in 2019.
Also seeing growth is the number of domestic tourists that travel around the kingdom to participate in cultural activities and festivals, with an increase of 18-20%. With 1 in 5 tourist trips including participating in and attending one or more cultural activities, this shows that there is a positive and growing interest cultural activities, subsequently seeing an increase in demand for cultural events related to tourism, such as visiting heritage and archaeological sites, festivals and more.
It was also reported that there is diversity and accessibility to cultural events for economically less fortunate members of the society, proving that cultural practices are no longer an elite affair, and that it is not limited to particular age groups or just elders and family units – there is far more being offered to the youth of the kingdom in way of culture and entertainment.
