GCC Secretary-General: Work in Progress for Drafting Unified Tourist Visa

The tourism ministers of the GCC countries held their eighth meeting in Doha

Their Excellencies the ministers responsible for tourism in the GCC countries held their eighth meeting in Doha, where HE Chairman of Qatar Tourism, Saad bin Ali Al Kharji, confirmed in his opening speech that the general framework of the Gulf Tourism Strategy (2023-2030) serves as a strong impetus for joint tourism work, given its aspirations and aims for supporting growth in the tourism sectors of the GCC countries, especially as they are all moving towards developing their tourism sectors and enhancing their contribution within the framework of economic diversification strategies.

HE the Chairman of Qatar Tourism added that the meeting is of particular importance to enhance tourism cooperation and integration between the Gulf countries, and to build on the successes achieved over the past years, which requires the completion of the ongoing discussions on the mechanisms for implementing the Gulf Tourism Strategy, and the initiatives emanating from it; such as the unified tourist visa, in addition to joint marketing programs and campaigns, and the exchange of experiences and knowledge, which are initiatives that contribute to achieving the desired goal of this strategy, by enhancing the prospects for tourism cooperation and supporting the process of sustainable economic development.

HE Al Kharji stressed that the tourism industry has become an important tributary to achieving economic development throughout the world, adding that the number of international travelers during 2023 reached 1.3 billion, while the sector's contribution to the global economy amounted to 3.3 trillion dollars, and in the GCC countries, local tourists' spending reached USD one billion. Statistics also indicate that the GCC countries saw an increase in the rate of spending by tourists coming to them by an average of 12.8 percent during 2022.

He voiced looking forward to increasing the gross domestic product of the travel and tourism sector in GCC countries by 7 percent until 2030, stressing that the success of any Gulf tourist destination in attracting visitors and providing a distinguished experience is a success for the rest of the destinations, and a renewed invitation to the visitor to learn more about the rest of the destinations.

According to statistics, the Gulf tourism sector succeeded in attracting 36 million tourists in 2022, despite the geopolitical tensions surrounding the region, HE Al Kharji said explaining that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Expo Dubai, and the major events hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have contributed to changing the perceptions of the West, and even pushed them to respect our principles and culture.

Al Kharji stated that the State of Qatar received 700,000 visitors last January, while organizing a number of sporting and tourism events, most notably the Asian Football Cup, which confirms that visitor numbers in the region are on the rise.

He pointed out that the Gulf tourism sector possesses competitive advantages that qualify it to become one of the most important destinations around the world, primarily the resilience and stability of its economies, and the encouraging investment environment, which can pump and attract more tourism investments, in addition to the advanced infrastructure at the level of transportation and the hospitality sector, in addition to its strategic location that makes it a link between the East and the West.

Source: QNA