The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are forming a new bloc aimed at developing the region’s tourism sector. A single “GCC zone” visa is due to be announced by December, bringing together the GCC countries: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.

The news was announced at the seventh meeting of GCC tourism ministers held in Oman. According to Oman’s Minister of Heritage and Tourism, Salim Mohammed Al Mahrouqi, the implementation of the single visa will start soon. The decision received unanimous approval.

The Gulf tourism ministers agreed to submit proposals before the end of the year regarding the introduction of a single tourist visa.

Such a visa was first mentioned in May 2023 at a conference in Dubai, where ministers shared their hopes of uniting the GCC states so that tourists would consider travelling to a number of countries without the complexities of travelling to Europe.

The new visa is being introduced as part of the GCC tourism strategy for 2023-2030, which the ministers said is under development. The meeting also addressed the establishment of a Gulf tourism statistics platform, as reported by Trinity Mirror, a partner of TV BRICS.

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