The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is set to launch the long-awaited single tourist visa next year, Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khatib has confirmed.

He said that after four years of concerted efforts by the Gulf countries, this initiative has finally reached a milestone. He called the single visa project one of the biggest steps in connecting the travel and tourism sectors among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Speaking at the Gulf Gateway Investment Forum in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, Saudi Tourism Minister Al-Khatib said the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is currently experiencing a historic expansion in tourism, thanks to the region’s rich culture, modern infrastructure and safe environment.

He said that the GCC countries are witnessing a historic transformation in the tourism sector; where tourism has now become an important economic pillar alongside oil and trade.

• Travel to six countries on a single visa
The official name of the GCC single entry visa will be the ‘GCC Grand Tours Visa’. It will allow travelers to travel to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman with a single application.

The project was approved at the GCC Interior Ministers’ meeting held in Oman in November 2023. At that time, the GCC Single Visa was planned as a joint model modeled on the European Union’s (EU) Schengen visa.

GCC officials said the visa would be a key part of the Gulf region’s economic diversification plan, attracting international tourists who want to travel to multiple countries easily but don’t want to deal with paperwork, separate fees and different rules. Initially, the visa would only be available for tourism and family travel and applications could be made online.

Travelers can choose to visit a single country or six countries, with a validity of between one and three months. The cost is expected to be lower than individual visas.

After the visa is launched, applicants will have to submit a passport with at least six months validity, accommodation information, passport-sized photograph, travel insurance and proof of financial capacity, and a return or onward ticket. The application process will also be simplified, GCC officials said. They said documents can be uploaded through the government’s online portal, fees can be paid, and digital visas can be received by e-mail.

Al-Khatib said the growing air connectivity in the Gulf region highlights the importance of facilitating travel between member states. He said that last year, the four major airlines in the Gulf region carried about 150 million passengers. Of these, 70 million passengers traveled within the Gulf countries. This gap highlights the potential that still exists in intra-Gulf travel.

Officials in several Gulf countries have said the introduction of a single GCC visa would increase the length of stay for tourists, increase travel to multiple cities and spread the cost across countries. More details will be released in the coming months and an application portal will be launched ahead of the official launch next year.