Monday, February 26, 2024
In November 2023 the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) approved a landmark Unified Gulf Tourist Visa set to launch between 2024 and 2025.
Similar to the Schengen scheme, the permit will enable tourists to travel across all six GCC member states: Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The new visa was announced by Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, GCC secretary-general, on Nov. 9, during the 40th meeting of the organization’s interior ministers in Muscat, Oman.
The Unified Gulf Tourist Visa may further open doors to travellers and entrepreneurs eager to visit the rapidly changing and developing Gulf region, by granting them access to the six countries under a unified, single tourist visa.
Al-Budaiwi described the new Unified Gulf Tourist Visa initiative as testament to the close cooperation between all GCC leaders.
The Unified Gulf Tourist Visa is a project that will contribute to facilitating and streamlining the movement of residents and tourists between the six GCC countries and will, undoubtedly, have a positive impact on the economic and tourist sectors, he said in a statement.
The GCC is already a destination for world travel and business. The new visa may attract foreign tourists as well as boost trade between the countries.
It is expected to further open doors to travellers and entrepreneurs eager to visit the rapidly changing and developing Gulf region, by granting them access to the six countries under a unified, single tourist visa.
A pivotal facet of the new initiative is its ability to further enhance economic synergy between the six Gulf states.
The upcoming GCC unified visa, announced by the GCC Supreme Council, is a major success for Saudi and the GCC region at large, and marks a crucial moment for tourism in Saudi, the Kingdom’s Tourism Authority Spokesperson and Corporate Communications Director Abdullah Al-Dakhil told a news agency.
Saudi Arabia, under Vision 2030, is rapidly expanding its tourism industry, with major new developments throughout the Kingdom as well as new hotels, resorts and travel destinations that are well underway before the end of the decade.
Saudi is booming, with the Saudi Central Bank recently announcing that visitor spending exceeded SR100 billion ($26.66 billion) in the first three quarters of 2023 and UNWTO recognizing the Kingdom as the world’s second-fastest-growing tourist destination, added Al-Dakhil.
Callen noted that the non-oil economy is likely to have grown by a healthy 4 percent, driven by private consumption.
Households throughout the Kingdom are taking advantage of new spending opportunities in the growing sectors of tourism and entertainment.
The growth of the non-oil economy, a major aim of Vision 2030, has led to significant job creation leading to a drop in the Saudi unemployment rate from 8.6 percent in the third quarter of 2023 from 9.9 percent a year prior, noted Callen.
A unified tourism visa can only expand on non-oil economic growth for the Kingdom as well as other Gulf nations.
Major hotels in the Kingdom are already looking forward to the economic benefits and ease that the new unified visa will offer.
Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh is one of the capital’s most iconic and historic hotels.
It opened in 2000 and has since become a prime spot for business activities as well as leisure travel.
The hotel previously noted that travellers had increased since the Kingdom opened to tourism in September 2019. The numbers have grown ever since.
Allowing for seamless travel between six nations, the new development promises to reshape the tourism landscape – just in time for Mandarin Oriental’s official debut in Riyadh as we seek to contribute to the GCC tourism strategy 2030, he added.
Tags: GCC, Saudi, travellers, Unified Gulf Tourist Visa, visa
Sunday, April 28, 2024
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