Muscat – The ninth meeting of Ministers Responsible for Tourism in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, held on February 17 in Kuwait, resulted in several key decisions aimed at enhancing tourism cooperation within the region. Chief among these is designation of January 20 as Gulf Tourism Day to be celebrated annually.

Represented by Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, Oman played an active role in the discussions with H E Salim bin Mohammed al Mahrouqi, Minister of Heritage and Tourism, highlighting the importance of deeper integration between GCC nations to consolidate their position as prominent tourist and cultural destinations.

The Gulf Tourism Day initiative was proposed by Gulf Statistical Centre with the aim of raising awareness on the significance of tourism and its role in economic and social development across the region.

The meeting also saw the Gulf Tourism Strategy Committee being tasked with developing a framework for joint promotional packages and creating mechanisms to assess their effectiveness. Additionally, it was decided to hold promotional seminars for Gulf tourism at key regional and international tourism exhibitions. The committee will also work on a promotional documentary film to showcase the tourism potential of GCC countries.

Jasem al Budaiwi, Secretary-General of GCC, shared encouraging statistics showing the number of international tourists visiting GCC countries reached 68.1mn in 2023, with tourism revenues amounting to US$110.4bn for the same year.

These figures represent a growth of 42.8% in tourist arrivals and 28.2% increase in revenue compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019. The GCC now holds a 5.2% share of global tourism arrivals and 7.2% of international tourism revenues, confirming its status as a growing global tourism hub.

The tourism sector’s contribution to the GCC’s GDP reached US$223.4bn, with a notable annual growth rate of 29.4% from 2022 to 2023. In terms of employment, the sector added 1.5mn jobs in 2023, representing a 17% growth compared to 2020.

In a move to enhance regional collaboration, the meeting also approved the creation of an annual training workshop for tourism statistics, organised by Gulf Statistical Centre, to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expertise across GCC countries.

Human resource development in the tourism sector was another focal point of the discussions. A unified vision for a tourism guide licence was approved, with plans to develop standardised curricula for tourist guides to improve professionalism in the region’s tourism services.

The meeting also examined ways to strengthen external tourism partnerships, aiming to enhance the GCC’s position as a global tourism leader. In line with this, a workshop titled ‘A Unified Vision for Sustainable Tourism: The Role of Gulf Countries in Shaping the Future of Global Tourism’ will be organised during World Economic Forum in Davos.

Additionally, a periodic tourism conference will be held in collaboration with the private sector across GCC countries to further boost tourism development in the region.