GCC officials discuss unified tourist visa and ways to boost industry

Manah: GCC tourism undersecretaries on Wednesday held their 7th meeting of 2023 at Oman Across Ages Museum in the Wilayat of Manah, Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah.

The officials discussed the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) tourism strategy, the unified GCC tourist visa, tourism guidebook and one-stop platform.

Azzan Qasim Al Busaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism for Tourism, said that the meeting was aimed at exploring optimum ways of utilising opportunities and capabilities of GCC countries.

The officials studied the progress made in upgrading the tourism sector, based on measures approved during the sixth meeting of GCC tourism undersecretaries held in the city of Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, in 2022.

Khalid Ali Al Sunaidi, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs at the GCC Secretariat General, said that the meeting was in pursuance of efforts made to improve the tourism sector in member states.

He pointed out that 2022 saw a 57.5 percent rise in the GCC travel and tourism sector’s total added value within the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021.

Al Sunaidi pointed out that the GCC Supreme Council, during its 43rd session, approved the general framework of the GCC Tourism Strategy (2023-2030), which sets out ambitious goals to meet the aspirations of GCC states.