Similar to the “Schengen” visa, which allows its holder to travel and move freely between the European Union countries, the tourism ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) approved the GCC unified tourist visa, during their seventh meeting held recently in the Sultanate of Oman.
This will allow its holder to visit 6 countries on a unified tourist visa, and extend the duration of their visit to these countries for more than 30 days. It is expected to enter into force during the years 2024 and 2025, depending on the readiness of the internal systems of the “cooperation” countries.
The procedures for implementing this visa will be discussed during the next month by the interior ministers of the GCC countries for approval and then submitted to the leaders’ meeting at the upcoming Gulf summit.
After the visa is approved, controls and legislation for its application will be put in place. By unifying the tourist visa system, the Gulf countries are betting on enhancing the attractiveness of their markets, especially in light of the ongoing economic transformation boom at the level of each country, despite the variation in its realistic translation from one country to another.
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Objectives of issuing a unified tourist visa
The idea of issuing a GCC unified tourist visa dates back to October 2015. It was scheduled to be officially issued in mid-2016, but for various circumstances and reasons, the project was halted.
The idea was proposed again in 2022, during Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup finals, through a smart electronic platform called “Haya”.
The Qatari platform was like a passport to all the Gulf countries, and its campaign allowed it to move freely in the region without issuing a special visa in advance to enter the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
The initiative comes within the GCC’s 2030 strategy, which aims to increase the tourism sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product by increasing inter-city flights and the number of hotel guests across the GCC countries and making it the leading tourist destination in the world for regional and international tourists.
The economic importance of GCC unified tourist visa
This step has great economic and development importance. It focuses on attracting tourists and keeping them in the GCC countries for a longer period, which would enhance Gulf economic integration.
It increases the percentage of tourism spending in the cooperation countries and increases investments in the tourism sector. There is another unified ambition that unites the Gulf countries, which is to increase the spending of tourists arriving there at an annual growth rate of about 8 percent.
It is expected that visitor spending will reach $96.9 billion by the end of this year, with a growth of 12.8 percent on an annual basis, with spending reaching about $188 billion by the end of the current decade.
The joint Gulf tourism strategy “2023-2030” aims to increase the number of inbound flights to the GCC countries at an annual rate of 7.0 percent.
Orient Planet Research previously expected in its evaluations that the value of expected investments in the tourism sector in the Gulf countries would exceed about $136 billion during the period from 2027 to 2040.
Official data indicate that the number of visitors to the Gulf countries reached 39.8 million visitors last year, with a growth rate of 136.6 percent compared to 2021, while it aims to reach 128.7 million visitors by 2030.
Economic objectives of the GCC unified tourist visa
Through the GCC unified tourist visa, the GCC countries aim to:
1. Maximizing the economic returns of tourism.
2. Activating the participation of the private sector and local communities in the tourism development process.
3. Adopting the tourism sector as an effective tool for improving citizens’ income and reducing poverty and unemployment.
4. Strengthening the principle of partnership in the national tourism administration.
5. Raising the efficiency of institutional building for the tourism sector.
6. Develop and lead tourism marketing and promotion policies.
This is done through
1. Working to develop the tourism industry in the Arab countries, attract more international tourism traffic, and develop intra-Arab tourism traffic.
2. Striving to develop and advance the tourism industry in the Arab world and raise its level.
3. Securing qualified technical personnel and employing and exploiting the cultural, civilizational, and religious heritage and the rich tourism potential in the Arab world.
4. Providing the necessary climate for carrying out tourism activity for tourism investments in all parts of it.
5. Overcoming the obstacles facing Arab investments and finding solutions for them to develop them.
6. Activating, encouraging, and disseminating scientific research to contribute to the growth and development of the tourism industry in the Arab world.
7. Setting tourism standards and working to implement them to ensure the qualitative quality of tourist facilities in Arab countries.
8. Working to consolidate joint Arab tourism marketing by attending Arab and international exhibitions and conferences and participating in their organization.
9. Laying the foundations to attract tourism investments and Arab immigrant capital by establishing modern laws that guarantee the attraction and protection of these investments. Achieving integration between tourism projects.
10. Celebrating Arab Tourism Day annually in all Arab countries.
11. Tourism and the environment are two sides of the same coin. Tourism development must be sustainable and comprehensive and preserve the environment for the present and the future.
12. Interest in preserving and developing traditional industries.
13. Strengthening the role of institutions for protecting tourism investment in the Arab world.
The importance of tourism and travel markets
The Gulf countries have developed and qualified infrastructure for the travel and tourism sector. The total number of hotel establishments there reached 10,649 establishments by the end of 2022, with a growth of 1.2 percent compared to 2016. While the total number of rooms in hotel establishments in the Gulf countries reached 674,832 rooms, with a growth of 0.4 percent.
Tourism and travel to the Gulf countries constitute one of the important markets in the world as exporting and receiving countries. It is also one of the most important customers of aircraft manufacturers, in addition to having competitive advantages that help it to be one of the most important tourism regions in the world.
The governments of the region are armed with various programs and initiatives to develop the industry, which is one of the important engines for diversifying the economy, as is the case with the Emirates, represented by the Emirate of Dubai.
However, Saudi Arabia is making great efforts through its transformation strategy to build a nucleus for the sector that will make it one of the main destinations in the future thanks to the investment workshop currently open, as is the case in the Sultanate of Oman and Bahrain.
Raising the direct GDP of the travel and tourism sector
According to a statement by the UAE Minister of Economy, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, to WAM Agency, “The Gulf Cooperation Council countries aim to increase the direct gross domestic product of the travel and tourism sector at an annual growth rate of 7 percent”.
It is expected that the total value added to the travel and tourism sector in the GDP will reach The Gulf countries’ domestic revenues will reach $185.9 billion in 2023, a growth of 8.5 percent compared to 2022, during which they achieved $171.4 billion”. He said.
He pointed out that “the GCC countries include 837 tourist sites, of which the UAE occupies 399, topping the Gulf countries in the number of tourist sites, while the country occupies the largest share in terms of the number of tourism events and activities in the GCC countries, with 73 tourist events, out of a total of 224 Gulf tourism events and activities”.
A unified Gulf tourist path
He explained that the next stage requires studying a unified Gulf tourism route linking the GCC countries in a single route for foreign visitors to follow. During its last meeting, the UAE Tourism Council discussed the preparation of the UAE tourism route that connects the seven emirates. This is within the framework of readiness and preparedness for the Gulf connection when applying for the unified GCC unified tourist visa. Which in turn presents a new tourism product to attract international tourists to the Arabian Gulf region”.
He pointed out that “the tourism sector’s contribution to the UAE’s gross domestic product reaches 14 percent. We aim to increase the contribution of this sector to 18 percent, which contributes to achieving the UAE’s strategic tourism goals. The UAE includes 1,114 hotel facilities, ranking second among countries Gulf, after Saudi Arabia”.
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