The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has formally approved a unified tourist visa that will allow travelers to explore all six Gulf countries under a single permit — a move hailed as a major leap toward regional travel integration.
In an Economic Times report, UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri confirmed the development during a press conference at the UAE Hospitality Summer Camp on June 16, 2025, saying, “The single (GCC) tourist visa has been approved and waiting now to be implemented, hopefully, soon. Now, it is with the Ministry of Interior and the relevant stakeholders and they should look into it.”
Modeled after Europe’s Schengen visa system, the new initiative — informally referred to as the “GCC Grand Tours Visa” — will enable seamless entry across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait. It eliminates the need for separate visa applications for each country despite existing road and air links.
Travel industry experts have welcomed the announcement, calling it a game-changer for tourism and economic cooperation across the region. The visa is expected to encourage “bleisure” travel, where business trips are extended for leisure, driving longer tourist stays and a more balanced distribution of spending across the Gulf states.
The unified visa also carries broader economic implications, with anticipated gains in job creation, infrastructure development, and investment in hospitality. As the Gulf continues its tourism rebound, simplified mobility is viewed as a key catalyst for sustaining growth.
Recent data underscores the region’s momentum. According to the GCC Statistical Centre, the Gulf welcomed 68.1 million visitors in 2023, generating $110.4 billion in tourism revenue — a 42.8% jump in arrivals compared to 2019 levels.
In the UAE alone, the travel and tourism sector supported 833,000 jobs in 2024, with projections by the World Travel and Tourism Council indicating that employment could reach one million by 2030 — making one in nine UAE residents part of the industry.
Dubai remains at the forefront, attracting 7.15 million tourists between January and April 2025, reflecting a 7% increase from the same period last year. With the unified visa now on the horizon, other Gulf destinations are poised to benefit from this influx, fostering longer and more diverse travel itineraries across the region.