Analysis of Hotel Distribution Patterns in Hail, Saudi Arabia, Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Abstract

Hail City has experienced several transformations and urban advancements in the last two decades. These developments have attracted visitors and tourists to the city and led to a significant and urgent demand for accommodations. Local Investors have responded to this demand by establishing numerous hotels, albeit in a random manner. This paper aims to examine the patterns of hotel locational distribution in Hai City, Saudi Arabia, by utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. Both Primary and secondary data were used. The primary data was collected using the Global Positioning System (GPS) (x, y) coordinates of each hotel within the city. Secondary data were obtained from the tourism authorities, the city chamber, and the municipality of Hail City. The data underwent meticulous and rigorous processing and analysis, including several analytical techniques such as multi-ring buffer, Kernel density, mean center, central feature, standard distance, directional distribution, and the average nearest neighbor analysis. This comprehensive approach produced a reliable and accurate geospatial database of the hotels. The study results indicate that hotels in Hail are predominantly clustered and concentrated on the city's western and Northern sides, demonstrating a significant agglomeration. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the hotels are far from the Central Business District (CBD).