GCC tourism to get a boost with new initiatives

Muscat - The GCC states are keen to make an environment conducive to the movement of local and international tourists within the six countries, according to officials and ministers who took part in the seventh meeting of GCC ministers of tourism. The meeting chaired by Oman was held at Oman Across the Ages Museum in the Wilayat of Manah, Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah, on Thursday

It may be noted that the percentage of intra-GCC tourism among the total international tourists was 29.7 per cent, with a growth rate of 98.8 per cent compared to 2021.

As per The Gulf Tourism Strategy (2023-30), the number of inbound visits must increase by 7 per cent annually until 2030, which will lead to an increase in tourist spending by eight per cent and that by local GCC tourists by 2.4 per cent.

The ministers also agreed to help members, including Bahrain and the UAE, nominate Manama and Abu Dhabi as tourism capitals for the years 2024 and 2025.

Speaking on the occasion, Salim bin Mohammed al Mahrouqi, Minister of Heritage and Tourism, said that the meeting sought to enhance cooperation, integration, and empowerment for tourism development in the GCC by adopting common initiatives and programmes, which should be necessarily implemented as per a timetable.

He pointed out that the Middle East is among the fastest-recovering tourism markets in the world. The Sultanate of Oman was ranked 18th worldwide as Oman's recovery percentage was 14 per cent for the first seven months of 2023, compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 figures.

Jassim Mohammed al Budawi, Secretary-General of the GCC, said, "The GCC has so far registered more than 17 sites on the World Heritage List of UNESCO, and the total number of visitors to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries reached 39.8 million visitors in 2022, achieving a growth rate of 136.6 per cent compared to the previous year, and spending of inbound visitors to the GCC countries was $85.9 billion, with a growth rate of 101.2 per cent compared to the 2021 figures.

The GCC seeks to increase the contribution of the tourist sector to the GDP by 7 per cent annually by 2030.

Ahmed bin Aqeel Al Khatib, Minister of Tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said that the establishment of a centre for unified Gulf statistics and visas was during the meeting.

As per the initiatives of the Gulf Tourism Strategy 2023-2030, the general framework of the unified visa project for GCC should be ready before the end of December 2023 in coordination with the relevant and competent authorities.

Earlier, speaking to the Observer, Al Mahrouqi said, "A unanimous agreement has approved the GCC common or unified visa and will be launched soon after putting in place all mechanisms.

The proposal will be presented to the regional interior ministers meeting in November in Muscat.

Speaking to the Observer, an official from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Tourism said that the integration of the GCC markets is needed to boost economic growth and create job opportunities for the nationals. The unified visa is the first step in that direction. "What we need now is the urgency to complement each other rather than compete."