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10/1/25, 8:45 AM GCC single tourist visa: Schengen-style permit to be launched this year | Khaleej Times
On June 16, 2025, Al Marri told Khaleej Times in an interview that the GCC single tourist visa has
Khaleej Times in an interview
been approved and will be rolled out “soon”.

“The single (GCC) tourist visa has been approved and now waiting to be implemented, hopefully,
soon. Now, it is with the Ministry of Interior and the relevant stakeholders, and they should look into
it,” Al Marri said during the interview on the sidelines of the UAE Hospitality Summer Camp.

The GCC Grand Tourist Visa will allow foreign tourists to visit the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar,
Oman, and Kuwait on a single visa.

The cost and duration of the visa have not yet been disclosed.

Travel and tourism industry executives believe that this visa will be a game-changer for the regional
tourism industry and overall economies, creating thousands of new jobs along with a big boost to
GDP. It will boost both religious and 'bleisure' tourism in the region.

Executives believe that all GCC countries will be beneficiaries of this new visa, but the UAE and
Saudi Arabia will attract the most tourists.

In 2024, the UAE received 3.3 million visitors from GCC countries in 2024, accounting for 11 per cent
of total hotel guests, Al Marri said. Saudi Arabia led with 1.9 million visitors, followed by Oman with
777,000, Kuwait with 381,000, Bahrain with 123,000 and Qatar with 93,000.

The UAE minister told Wam that the number of commercial licences in tourism, hospitality, aviation,
air transport, aviation technologies, and digital tourism solutions in the UAE reached 39,546 by mid-
September 2025, a 275 per cent increase compared to mid-September 2020.

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