1. Introduction
The Saudi city of AlUla has emerged as a popular tourist destination because of its stunning natural features, unique examples of wildlife, diverse history, and thousands of years old antiquities [
1]. AlUla has consequently grown to be one of the most significant ecotourism destinations, which prioritizes environmental preservation and provides tourists with distinctive experiences by promoting sustainable economic growth, preserving natural resources, and supporting residents [
2]. Therefore, the responsible authorities in AlUla resorted to adopting strategies to develop green tourism in the city to conserve the ecosystem and preserve the well-being of local residents [
3]. According to Dodds and Joppe [
4], the concept of green tourism has four components including (1) environmental commitment: preserving and improving nature and the physical environment to guarantee the long-term health of the ecosystems that support life; (2) local economic vitality: to maintain economic sustainability, local economies, enterprises, and communities are supported; (3) cultural diversity: respecting and valuing cultural variety is essential to ensure the long-term survival of the host or local cultures; and (4) experiential richness: offering fulfilling and pleasurable experiences via direct and meaningful engagement with people, places, animals, and cultures. In this context, The Royal Commission for AlUla, to conserve archaeological and heritage sites and involve residents in enhancing the values of the local culture and fostering green tourism, has launched numerous campaigns and initiatives in international educational exchanges and encouraging local engagement with resident communities. For example, The Royal Commission for AlUla’s Hammayah program strives to involve residents in managing their natural and cultural heritage to engage and advocate for their community. The Commission has also enlisted the help of numerous local investors to reuse historic buildings, provide residential units that meet local criteria, and provide examples of best restoration practices [
5]. Additionally, in 2020, the UNWTO and the G20 Tourism Working Group created a “Framework AlUla for Inclusive Community Development through Tourism” to assist the sector in achieving its potential to donate to and fulfill the development of inclusive communities and the Sustainable Development Goals [
6]. There are more initiatives that have established green tourism practices in AlUla, and the goal of these efforts is the complete belief that this environmental framework is the ideal solution to preserve AlUla’s special nature (many other initiatives can be viewed on the website of The Royal Commission for AlUla [
7]). Accordingly, the present study seeks not to evaluate the green tourism practices that have become established in AlUla as a result of these efforts and initiatives but rather to examine the impact of the community’s attachment to AlUla in its support for these efforts and initiatives and its reflection in the behaviors of green AlUla tourists from the residents’ perspectives.
The tourism industry has three main parts including visitors, communities, and destinations (attractions and facilities). Additionally, intermediary companies may play a key role between visitors and the destination such as providing transportation and information [
8]. From the host community’s perspective, tourism success depends on how local residents are attached to their environment and how they perceive and support tourism development [
9]. Furthermore, community perception of the advantages generated by tourism can shape their behavior toward its development [
10,
11]. Hence, community support should be considered to improve green tourist consumption since residents are crucial players in offering tourist quality involvement [
12,
13]. When the local community experiences a positive impact from tourism, a strong desire will emerge for place attachment and development [
14,
15,
16]. Place attachment is one of the most dominant non-financial factors that can illustrate why local communities resist or support destination development [
17,
18,
19,
20]. Place attachment can be conceptualized as the positive psychological and emotional connections built among residents and their environment [
21,
22,
23]. These ties are essential in planning and tourism development [
24] because tourism affects not only the look of local heritages but also the values of heritages and the ties the local community have with others [
18,
25].
The style of living among the community’s citizens may affect the intended changes within the tourism destination taking place as a consequence of the continuing development, such as adjustments in local finances (e.g., [
26,
27]), social and cultural changes (e.g., [
26,
28,
29,
30]), and environmental changes (e.g., [
26,
29,
31,
32]). The efforts to foster green tourist consumption are challenging without the advocacy and involvement of the local residents [
33,
34,
35].
Research on community attachment has been established in the literature within several domains, including environmental studies, education, green behavior, psychology, management, and tourism (e.g., [
36,
37,
38]), and significant methodological and theoretical progress has been made by scholars in this area [
36]. Several scholars have found a significant link between place attachment and pro-environmental green behaviors (e.g., [
37,
39,
40]). Green behavior can be defined as practices by people that foster or engender the sustainable consumption of destination resources [
41,
42].
Although the current research paper introduces place attachment as a potentially useful tool to stimulate green behaviors (i.e., tourists’ green consumption), outcomes on the link between the two constructs are inconsistent and far from convincing [
43]. This can be explained by the various dimensions of place attachment and their interrelationship with green behaviors, which have been investigated in numerous contexts using methodologies with different data analysis techniques (e.g., [
44,
45,
46]). The conclusion is that few studies (e.g., [
47,
48]) operationalize community attachment as a multi-dimensional factor, containing three sub-dimensions named (place dependence, place identity, and affective attachment) in a single study. This study aims to fill this gap and employ community attachment as a multidimensional construct and for the first time investigates its impact on tourists’ green consumption support through the mediating role of residents’ support of green tourism development in one context AlUla Heritage City, Saudi Arabia.
2. The Context of AlUla Heritage City, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is the main leader in implementing creative practices for a sustainable and environmental post-oil era. The country has undergone substantial economic extension and enlarged its targets to include building new sectors, global investments in the tourism industry, and protecting national heritage [
49]. Recently, the government of Saudi Arabia developed strategies that encouraged urbanization by emphasizing the transfer from traditional patterns to modern design and green responsibility. As an example, recent practices were developed to foster tourism effects on environmental destinations for the city of AlUla. Located 1100 km west of Riyadh, AlUla is an archaeological site. After excavating the ancient site consisting of a necropolis, quarries, and settlements (
Figure 1), one can now tour the world heritage sites in a rock-cut landscape, which has been sculpted for a million years. AlUla is known for its archaeological ruins and heritage sites, some of which are more than 2000 years old. Previously, this city was famous as the entrance gateway for the merchandise troops traveling from south to north in the Arabic Peninsula [
50,
51]. Geologically, the city has an oasis and a huge valley, allocated between sandstone highlands (mountains) with exceptional arithmetic shapes [
52]. AlUla has fifty-five heritage sites from various eras; Mada’in Salih was one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, registered in 2008. Furthermore, AlUla’s Hegra Heritage Site (Al-Hijr/Mada’in Salih) was the first World Heritage place to be listed in Saudi Arabia, it represents the same outlook as UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” (MoW) Program [
53] (see
Figure 1).
In AlUla, government strategies are ongoing to preserve its heritage landscape and plan for a substantial transformation to foster heritage tourism in Saudi Arabia. The “Royal Commission for AlUla” (RCU), developed in 2017, has the mission of sustaining and developing AlUla’s cultural heritage for both current and future generations [
55]. Corresponding with Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia, RCU’s initiatives in AlUla spread beyond archaeology and education to include arts and tourism. RCU aims to reinforce AlUla heritage sites as a friendly hub for international visitors. RCU’s main goal is to foster cultural exchanges and deliver a glance into the heritage printed in stone, all while being thoughtful of sustainability toward the local community [
53].
6. Discussion and Implications
Green consumption, which has the power to undermine the destination, place, or community environment that tourists target, visit, and stay in, is becoming more interesting as it brings to prominence the link between community attachment and green consumption behavior. Community attachment is a multidimensional construct with various sub-dimensions that might have an effect on different expected outcomes such as individuals’ attachments and commitments to their environment and surrounding place. In the current study, community attachment is defined as a multifaceted factor comprising three second-order dimensions including place dependence, place identity, and affective attachment [
96]. These factors can independently or collectively shape or change tourists’ attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors toward a place, (i.e., green consumption behaviors).
The findings of our study showed a positive significant path from the three dimensions of community attachment to green consumption behaviors of tourists visiting AlUla heritage sites. Each sub-dimension plays a unique role in shaping tourists’ environmental behaviors. Place dependence was found to have a significant positive and direct impact on tourists’ green consumption behaviors. Tourists who perceive AlUla as a destination that offers eco-friendly facilities, and sustainable green heritage sites are more likely to participate in green consumption behaviors. This result is consistent with Williams and Vaske [
97] and Choi and Kim [
98], who argued that place-dependent visitors prefer eco-friendly hotels, nature-based attractions, and local services/products that foster environmental sustainability. Likewise, the results of PLS-SEM showed a positive, direct, significant impact of place identity on tourists’ green consumption. This finding suggested that visitors to AlUla heritage sites with high place identity had a feeling of attachment, dignity, and physiological connection to the destination with its distinguishing heritage and environmental resources. This result is consistent with Buonincontri et al. [
99] and Hernández et al. [
100], who found that visitors are motivated to implement green consumption activities as a way to sustain a place’s cultural and environmental heritage. Additionally, the PLS-SEM output showed a positive direct path coefficient between affective place attachment and green consumption activities. Tourists who develop emotional connections and constructive feelings toward AlUla heritage sites tend to prefer sustainable practices to ensure the destination’s well-being. This argument is consistent with Lewicka [
101] and Buckley [
102], who stated that affective attachment encourages a feeling of trust and obligation among visitors toward preserving the environment and promoting sustainable practices. In sum, according to our study survey, the community attachment of AlUla was able to motivate tourists to participate in sustainable environmental conservation endeavors, utilize green products, be willing to participate in natural environment conservation, plan to pay extra costs for environmental conservation, utilize public transportation, and stay in green hotels. Community attachment can also prompt tourists to make their colleagues environmentally aware and invite them to visit AlUla through positive word of mouth. Moreover, tourists can play a key role in the achievement and success of green tourism in AlUla city by constructing conscious selections that back sustainability, value local traditions, environments, and cultures, and support responsible travel activities that preserve the local environment. By actively engaging in and fostering green tourism practices, tourists can help safeguard future generations’ environmental and cultural sources.
The current study explored the mediating impacts of locals’ support for green tourism development in the link from community attachment to tourists’ green consumption practices. Residents who dynamically support and contribute to green tourism practices, preservation strategies, and sustainable initiatives are considered good examples and role models for visitors. This is consistent with the view of Leslie [
103], who argued that resident support and sponsorship of environmental practices generate a backing environment that fosters visitors to be involved in green consumption activities.
This study has several implications for green consumption behavior and sustainable tourism management in AlUla heritage sites. Involving local citizens as defenders of sustainability and engaging them in the decision-making processes can promote a feeling of proprietorship and empowerment toward fostering green tourism strategies. Additionally, the partnership among residents, AlUla authorities, and private businesses is vital for applying effective sustainability practices that address the diverse factors of community attachment and foster green consumption activities. Educating residents and visitors about the eco-friendly advantages of green consumption can motivate environmental behaviors that can create a culture of sustainability. Finally, implementing regulations and policies that advocate green tourism development, prioritize sustainable programs, and foster eco-certification initiatives can create a supportive environment for sustainable tourism strategies.