Anas A. Salameh

Tourism is the main service industry significantly developing in the world. It is recognized as the critical factor in economic improvement in various countries. Saudi Arabia is one of the oldest and most famous spots for pilgrimage tourism due to its Islamic heritage. The study analyzes data available on the websites of the Saudi government to specify the contribution of travel and tourism revenue to the economy and its trend, occupancy of residential, and transportation capacity. A tourism satisfaction questionnaire was administered online to get the responses of Saudi nationals and residents related to tourism infrastructure, facilities, and other tourism services in Saudi Arabia. Ranks and percentage analysis were applied to get the relational satisfaction of tourists. Index numbers, ratios, percentages, and coefficient of variations were applied to get the trend, yearly fluctuations, variations, weights, and contribution of tourism avenues. There is a positive but low degree correlation between tourism revenue and the GDP of Saudi Arabia for the period from 2010 to 2018. The results indicate either negative or negligibly positive revenue growth of the accommodation/hotel services, food services, and air transportation. Two-thirds of tourists are either strongly satisfied or satisfied with essential and other tourism services and facilities in Saudi Arabia. Apart from tourist satisfaction, the Saudi government may consider a variety of services as per the economic level of the targeted tourists, and softening of visiting visa procedures and fees to enhance tourism revenue of major contributors for the positive and progressive development to the economy.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia, for providing financial support to complete this project (Project No: 2020/02/16978).

A country’s payment and settlement system refers to payment means or instruments, procedures, supportive and technical services of clearance, fund transfer, and final settlement. To study the various dimensions of the payment and settlement system, an online survey was administered and 240 responses were collected from Saudi and non-Saudi nationals, while secondary data were obtained from the SAMA (Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority) website. Index numbers, percentages, ranks, Average Trend Growth Rate, and payment weights means are applied to get the mutual growth trend, average growth, and contribution of specific means in payment and settlement in Saudi Arabia. There are negative trends in the traditional payment and settlement system in Saudi Arabia. Based on the value (amount) of transactions, Mada (Debit card) and E-payment (SADAD – a payment system, and SARIE – Saudi Arabian Riyal Interbank Express) are the most significant contributors to online payment (51.63%), while POS (point of sale) is the fastest-growing (158%) means of payment and settlement in Saudi Arabia. The means of traditional payment and settlement negligibly (< 1%) contribute to the payment and settlement system in Saudi Arabia. The analysis of responses reveals that payment and settlement users were unsatisfied with the various dimensions of security (39%) and traceability (35%) of the payment and settlement systems in Saudi Arabia. All dimensions of security and traceability must be considered to increase the degree of satisfaction with payments and, in particular, settlements in Saudi Arabia.

Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to the Deanship of Scientific Research, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia, for providing funding to complete this project (Project No. 2021/02/18709).