Arab News, Sun, Feb 25, 2024 | Shaban 15, 1445
New unified Gulf tourism visa to bolster Saudi economy
Saudi Arabia:
In November 2023 the Gulf Cooperation Council approved a landmark unified
tourist visa set to launch between 2024 and 2025.
Similar to the Schengen scheme, the permit will
enable tourists to travel across all six GCC member states: Oman, Bahrain,
Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The new visa was announced by Jassim Mohammed
Al-Budaiwi, GCC secretary-general, on Nov. 9, during the 40th meeting of the
organization’s interior ministers in Muscat, Oman.
Al-Budaiwi described the new Unified Gulf Tourist
Visa initiative as testament to the close cooperation between all GCC leaders.
“The unified Gulf tourist visa is a project that
will contribute to facilitating and streamlining the movement of residents and
tourists between the six GCC countries and will, undoubtedly, have a positive
impact on the economic and tourist sectors,” he said in a statement.
The GCC is already a destination for world travel
and business. The new visa is expected to attract foreign tourists as well as
boost trade between the countries.
It is expected to further open doors to travelers
and entrepreneurs eager to visit the rapidly changing and developing Gulf
region, by granting them access to the six countries under a unified, single
tourist visa.
A pivotal facet of the new initiative is its
ability to further enhance economic synergy between the six Gulf states.
“The upcoming GCC unified visa, announced by the
GCC Supreme Council, is a major success for Saudi and the GCC region at large,
and marks a crucial moment for tourism in Saudi,” the Kingdom’s Tourism
Authority Spokesperson and Corporate Communications Director Abdullah Al-Dakhil
told Arab News.
“It will enhance sector collaboration and make the
region more accessible for visitors seeking to explore the wonders of Saudi –
the authentic home of Arabia – and the GCC countries,” he added.
Saudi Arabia, under Vision 2030, is rapidly
expanding its tourism industry, with major new developments throughout the
Kingdom as well as new hotels, resorts and travel destinations that are well
underway before the end of the decade.
“Saudi is booming, with the Saudi Central Bank
recently announcing that visitor spending exceeded SR100 billion ($26.66
billion) in the first three quarters of 2023 and UNWTO recognizing the Kingdom
as the world’s second-fastest-growing tourist destination,” added Al-Dakhil.
“We hope the GCC visa will further enhance this
and help Saudi reach its target of tourism contributing towards 10 percent of
GDP by 2030, and the growth of the whole region.”
According to a report published by the World Bank
at the end of November 2023 titled “Economic Diversification Efforts Paying off
in GCC Region but More Reforms Needed” the GCC region is estimated to have grown
by 1 percent in 2023 before picking up again to 3.6 percent and 3.7 percent in
2024 and 2025, respectively.
“To maintain this positive trajectory, GCC
countries must continue to exercise prudent macroeconomic management, stay
committed to structural reforms, and focus on increasing non-oil exports” said
Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali, World Bank country director for the GCC in a
statement.
“However, it is important to acknowledge the
downside risks that persist. The current conflict in the Middle East poses
significant risks to the region and the GCC outlook, especially if it extends or
involves other regional players. As a result, global oil markets are already
witnessing higher volatility,” she added.
The new unified visa contributes to the need to
increase non-oil exports and economic activity.
The Saudi economy is likely to grow by around 1.5
percent in 2024 with the non-oil sector expanding by 3 percent to 4 percent,
according to data published by the Saudi statistical authority and projections
made by Tim Callen, a visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in
Washington.
Callen noted that the non-oil economy is likely to
have grown by a healthy 4 percent, driven by private consumption, with
households throughout the Kingdom taking advantage of new spending opportunities
in the growing sectors of tourism and entertainment.
The growth of the non-oil economy, a major aim of
Vision 2030, has led to significant job creation leading to a drop in the Saudi
unemployment rate from 8.6 percent in the third quarter of 2023 from 9.9 percent
a year prior, noted Callen.
A unified tourism visa can only expand on non-oil
economic growth for the Kingdom as well as other Gulf nations.
Major hotels in the Kingdom are already looking
forward to the economic benefits and ease that the new unified visa will offer.
“The GCC’s unanimous approval of a unified tourist
visa demonstrates the importance and vitality of this highly crucial economic
sector, with the ultimate aim of establishing this region as one of the top
tourist destinations in the world,” Richard Johnson, general manager of Al
Faisaliah Hotel Riyadh, told Arab News.
Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh is one of the
capital’s most iconic and historic hotels. It opened in 2000 and has since
become a prime spot for business activities as well as leisure travel. The hotel
previously noted that travelers had increased since the Kingdom opened to
tourism in September 2019. The numbers have grown ever since.
“Allowing for seamless travel between six nations,
the new development promises to reshape the tourism landscape – just in time for
Mandarin Oriental’s official debut in Riyadh as we seek to contribute to the GCC
tourism strategy 2030,” he added.
As Johnson noted, the visa “will usher in a new
era of economic growth and job creation for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in a
country where local hospitality is based on generosity and care and the whole is
therefore much greater than the sum of its parts.”