Ministry of Economy organizes interactive session on GCC’s tourism initiatives at Arabian Travel Market 2024

Implementation of Unified Tourist Visa set to enhance tourism & economic integration of GCC states

The Ministry of Economy organized an interactive session titled ‘Top tourism development initiatives in GCC countries’ during its participation in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2024 in Dubai. It was attended by H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, and Head of the Emirates Tourism Council, and several other GCC tourism sector representatives. The session discussed the importance of developing a future growth strategy for GCC tourism, strengthening its role in the growth and sustainability of the member states’ economies. This will be achieved through a number of mechanisms and collective efforts such as the implementation of the unified tourist visa to facilitate tourist flows between GCC countries.

The session was organized in collaboration with REED at the 31st edition of ATM, held in Dubai from 6 to 9 May under the theme ‘Empowering Innovation - Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship,’ bringing together a number of exhibitors, decision-makers, and experts from various regional and global travel markets.

H.E. Bin Touq said: "The GCC tourism sector continues to witness increased growth and has successfully demonstrated its potential as a key contributor to the growth of our national economies. The unified tourist visa initiative, which will come into force next year; the development of a unified tourism route connecting all GCC countries and drawing the features of the tourist trip for visitors to the region, will further promote tourism and economic integration at the regional level.”

Moreover, H.E. reviewed the main performance indicators of UAE tourism, emphasizing its contribution to the national economy and enhancing the country’s status as a leading global tourism destination. The sector contributed 11.7 per cent to the national GDP in 2023. This is expected to reach 12 per cent in 2024.

The GCC Unified Tourist Visa project was approved during the 44th GCC Summit in December 2023. This visa contributes to effectively highlighting the diverse tourist components of all GCC countries, thus increasing their hotel revenues, expenditure and the length of tourists' stay in the GCC states. Overall, the initiative will enhance the region’s status as a leading destination for regional and international tourists alike.

The interactive session discussed several topics related to tourism development in the GCC; the new opportunities to be offered by the proposed unified visa, and its potential impact on tourism traffic among these countries. It also addressed the role of educational institutions and programs in qualifying talent in the tourism and hospitality sector, as well as ways to enhance cooperation between GCC countries and relevant bodies. This is necessary to enrich the experience of visitors to the region by marketing each country's tourism offerings and coordinating promotional campaigns.

The total contribution of the GCC tourism sector to their collective GDP in 2021 was USD109 billion, while international tourists accounted for 55 per cent of the total tourism expenditure. Moreover, the sector's contribution to job creation was 9.8 per cent. The number of hotel establishments in the GCC countries totaled 10,649 by the end of the year 2022, a 1.2 per cent growth compared to 2016, with a total of 674,832 rooms with a 0.4 per cent growth. GCC countries aim to increase the spending of inbound tourists by 8.0 percent annually and to reach USD 188 billion by 2030.