Experts moot single visa system to boost tourism in Gulf region

A unified travel visa for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries could help develop the region's reputation as a long-holiday destination, rather than just for short-haul trips, experts said.

But the GCC, which comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, will have to work on creating their "bucket lists" to give travelers more reasons to stay longer and spend more in their destination countries, alongside the hassle-free scheme that is being planned, they added.

The single Gulf visa — like the Schengen visa of Europe, the world's largest travel-free zone — was first floated at the Arabian Travel Market trade show in Dubai in May.

Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, the UAE's minister of economy, announced that the GCC countries would be rolling out a synchronized Gulf tourist visa within the next two years, the Emirates News Agency, or WAM, reported on Oct 23.

He said specific regulations and legislation for the visa will be developed, with a targeted rollout between 2024 and 2025, subject to the readiness of each GCC country's internal systems.

"This initiative is an integral part of the GCC 2030 tourism strategy, designed to elevate the tourism sector's contribution to the GDP through increased inter-GCC travel and elevated hotel occupancy rates, transforming the GCC into a preeminent global destination for both regional and international tourists," Al Marri was quoted as saying by WAM.

Patrick Cooke, managing editor for the Middle East and Asia regions at research consultancy Oxford Business Group, told China Daily that a common travel visa "would help international visitors to view the Gulf region as an aspirational destination for a long holiday" rather than a short transit stop or business travel location, ultimately generating more tourism revenues and hospitality jobs in the process.

In recent years, some countries — like the UAE in 2017, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar during the pandemic — had introduced stopover programs and discounts with hotel packages, which range from 24 to 96 hours. These packages aim to encourage more visitors to see the cities as more than just a transit destination.

In transit

According to the Arabian Travel Market report of 2019, more than 63 percent of the 89 million passengers who passed through Dubai airport in 2018 were in transit with just 8 percent of the passengers leaving the airport to explore the emirate.

Peggy Li, managing partner at Sps; affinity, a service-centric global strategy and communications consultancy based in Dubai, told China Daily the unified GCC visa "will make a lot of sense for the GCC's internal travel". She said that at the moment only Dubai has "many bucket lists" in regard to visitor experiences and that the rest of the GCC region needed to catch up.

In 2022, the GCC received 48 million international arrivals, and the UAE emerged as the top tourist destination in the region, receiving 22.7 million visitors, according to the UN World Tourism Organization.

Saudi Arabia welcomed 16.6 million people, while other top tourist recipients in the Gulf that year included Bahrain with 3.7 million visitors, as well as Qatar at 2.6 million and Oman at 2.9 million.