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Balancing luxury and sustainability in Saudi tourism

Khadija Mehrez

Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights2026https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annale.2025.100203article
ABDC B
Weight
0.37

Abstract

This study investigates how tourists perceive the compatibility between luxury and sustainability in Saudi Arabia's emerging high-end tourism sector. Adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach, 39 semi-structured interviews with local and international travellers revealed five interrelated value categories: hedonic, uniqueness, trade-off, fairness, and religious value. While many participants embraced sustainability in luxury experiences, concerns about greenwashing and fair pricing were also raised. Religious value, particularly salient among Muslim tourists, reflects a culturally grounded extension of moral consumption. The findings extend value-based theorizing by introducing trade-off value as a distinct evaluative lens in the context of sustainable luxury. The study offers context-sensitive insights to inform experience design and marketing strategies that resonate with ethically and culturally diverse tourist segments.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annale.2025.100203

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@article{khadija2026,
  title        = {{Balancing luxury and sustainability in Saudi tourism}},
  author       = {Khadija Mehrez},
  journal      = {Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annale.2025.100203},
}

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Balancing luxury and sustainability in Saudi tourism

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.