GCC Unified Visa to Be Launched Soon

Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy and the Chairman of Emirates Tourism, shared that the unified tourist visa news for the GCC countries will be introduced in the coming period. 

He made this statement as he headed the UAE delegation at the ninth meeting of GCC ministers responsible for tourism in Kuwait on February 16 and 17. 

Al Marri affirmed that the UAE has a strong interest in enhancing joint tourism integration in the Gulf and carrying out tourism initiatives and strategies targeted at sustaining Gulf tourism and growing the economies of the GCC countries. 

The UAE minister shared key statistics to emphasize the extent to which tourism is flourishing in the region, with international tourist arrivals exceeding pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, 68.1 million tourists arrived in the GCC countries, which is a 42.8% increase from 2019. 

The total revenue from international tourism in the GCC countries also rose by 28.2% in the same period, totaling $110.4 billion, according to the Statistical Center for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf. 

Al Marri highlighted that these numbers point to fresh opportunities for regional and international tourism in the Gulf and stressed the importance of deeper regional cooperation under the GCC Tourism Strategy 2023-2030. The Minister of Economy also spoke about the necessity of building ties with leading international tourism markets. 

He said, “The meeting represents an important step to enhance joint efforts to activate the unified GCC tourist visa in the coming period, as it will contribute to achieving a qualitative shift in the Gulf tourism sector by highlighting the diverse tourism components of the GCC countries, and attracting tourists and keeping them for long periods.”

Al Marri shared that the city of Al Ain had been selected as the capital of Gulf tourism for 2025 and will host many promotional tourism events and programs to encourage the growth of inter-tourism rates between the GCC countries ahead of the launch of the GCC unified visa. 

He stressed the importance of exchanging expertise and tourism statistics and data in line with the international best practices and strengthening collaboration between the tourism and culture sectors within the GCC. 

Al Marri said that the UAE has been working on driving sustainable growth of the tourism sector by following international best practices. With key initiatives such as the National Tourism Strategy 2031, the UAE has achieved promising results in the tourism sector, with hotel revenues reaching AED 37.1 billion from January to October 2024. This was a 4% increase from the same period in 2023. The hotel occupancy rates also increased by 2.7% to nearly 78% in the same period. 

He shared that the UAE agreed with the recommendations and outcomes of the meeting and affirmed the country’s readiness to work with the other GCC countries to increase the effectiveness of joint tourism initiatives and projects.