Six Gulf countries are teaming up to revolutionise and simplify travel across the region with a new unified visa.
Rolling out over the next two years, the tourist visa will act as the Golden Ticket, allowing travellers to access six countries on the single visa. These countries are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) Minister of Economy, was reported in Emirates News Agency as saying that the visa initiative is part of a GCC 2030 tourism strategy to boost tourism and economic synergy across the region.
“[The visa will] elevate the tourism sector’s contribution to the GDP through increased inter-GCC travel and elevated hotel occupancy rates, transforming the GCC into a pre-eminent global destination for both regional and international tourists,” Mr Al Marri said.
The GCC 2030 strategic plans aim to increase visitation to each country by seven percent annually over the next seven years. Tourism to the GCC countries reached around 39.8 million last year, with hopes it’ll exceed 128.7 million by 2030.
GCC countries also hope to see visitor spending jump by eight percent annually to reach around $188 billion by 2030, up from the expected $96.9 billion this year.
The six countries are working towards accommodating the influx of visitors with growing air capacity, new hotels and tourist attractions. They’re also working with cruise lines such as Celestyal Cruises and Resorts World Cruises to take visitors around via the sea and exploring new rail routes such as the new highspeed rail link between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
