United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Economy, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, has announced that Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) countries will introduce a joint tourist visa just like the Schengen visa, allowing visa holders to visit all countries in the bloc.
According to details, the joint visa has been approved but it’s still unclear as to when it can be launched. However, it is expected that it will be launched next year and won’t take much longer than 2025 in case of any delays.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri stated that the authorities will deliberate on its implementation process next month. It should be noted that the unified tourist visa scheme was green-lighted earlier this month during a meeting of GCC Ministers in Muscat.
Once it is officially launched, tourists won’t need to acquire visas for the six Gulf countries, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, separately. It is pertinent to mention that all these countries are connected via air and road. The unified tourist visa is aimed at making it convenient to visit these destinations.
The UAE’s Minister also revealed an ambitious plan for a unified tourist route, connecting all six countries. It will be designed for foreign tourists planning to stay for more than 30 days.
Furthermore, the Emirates Tourism Council is also mulling over a plan to connect all seven emirates via an Emirati tourism route. It is worth mentioning that the single tourist visa is a key component of the GCC’s 2030 strategy. It would eventually lead to a better Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the increased number of inter-city flights and the number of hotel guests across the GCC countries.
Tourism accounts for 14% of UAE’s GDP and it plans to increase it to 18%, the minister revealed. Dubai, regarded as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, welcomed 8.55 million international overnight visitors.
