The year 2022 is crucial for the tourism sector in the region, with the Fifa World Cup expected to bring many tourists from different parts of the world, especially those from Latin America who would be visiting for the first time.
While Qatar is the host of the World Cup, the other GCC states have stepped in as partner countries by offering to host a large number of soccer fans.
While Expo 2020 in Dubai did attract visitors to the UAE, the inter-country movement of tourists was restricted due to requirements to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Though not officially fully eliminated, the lives of GCC residents and citizens are now back to normal, with no or little fear of the once deadly virus.
Speaking to the Observer recently, the Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism said opportunities are plenty for the big as well as small businesses in the coming months.
“With GCC countries easing visa regulations in a big way, you will just find opportunities anywhere and everywhere; it is just a matter of how one will take advantage of them,” said another official at the Ministry of Tourism.
A senior executive associated with a leading tourism company said, “Not just the government, even we are highly optimistic of this and the coming years. For the first time, we see GCC policies on tourism and travel are complementing each other rather than competing. While travel rules have been simple for citizens, it has been now simplified even for residents and foreign short-stay visitors.”
He added, “Except for Umrah and Hajj pilgrims, travellers from the Sultanate of Oman stay away from visiting Saudi Arabia due to various regulations. Saudi Arabia has a lot to offer due to its geographical diversity. It has modern metro cities in Riyadh and Jeddah, mountain ranges and deserts and a reasonably long coast on the Red Sea. Similarly, for travellers from Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman is a gateway to the world, especially to South Asia and Far East Asia. “Not just Saudi Arabia, even countries like Qatar and Bahrain have liberalised entry rules for GCC residents.
“While the uniform GCC tourism policy is yet to be implemented in its totality and has been talked about for many years, in recent times, countries have started taking steps to boost the regional travel and tourism sectors with the introduction of easy-to-apply e-visas.”
Sulaiman, who has been arranging travel and accommodation within the GCC for business travellers, said, “Until now, the regional travel has been largely dominated between the UAE and the rest of the GCC states. Now, it will be equally distributed among all countries, which will give a much-needed boost to the land transport and food and beverage industry and budget hotels.”
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