A New Common Tourism Visa Coming To The GCC

A GCC common tourism visa is soon to be announced, paving the way for a new era of tourism across the region.

It will make travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia much easier if you currently live in Dubai – as the plans look set to mimic Europe’s Schengen system.

The plan was unanimously approved this month, after a regional ministers’ meeting at the Oman Across Ages Museum in Manah.

As for what happens next, more detailed plans will be presented at a scheduled meeting in Muscat in November.

The latest development – as reported in the Oman Daily Observer – comes after the proposed structure was discussed by the UAE’s Minister of Economy, Abdulla bin Touq.

He said last month: “I think that is something which has been on the table. It’s been complementing all the GCC strategies on tourism.

“Hopefully, we are going to see something around a pan-GCC visa which will allow easier mobility of people within the GCC. A resident of Saudi, for instance, can enter the UAE and vice versa. I think that’s where we see the future of GCC tourism.

“The UAE has built an infrastructure to really accommodate all these types of tourism over the years.”