More than 75 million tourists visited countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 2025, marking a 4.8% increase in the region’s tourism sector, according to official data.
Intra-GCC travel rose as well, with roughly 20 million tourists traveling between member states in 2025, a 3.6% increase over 2024.
Saudi Arabia remained the dominant destination, hosting about 30 million international tourists in 2025. This figure represented nearly 40% of all visitors to GCC countries that year. In the first half of 2026, Saudi Arabia attracted approximately 3.2 million tourists from other GCC states.
Tourism spending across the GCC exceeded $131 billion
in 2025, an increase from around $120 billion in 2024. The sector’s direct and indirect contribution to the GCC economies totaled approximately $254 billion, equivalent to 11.4% of the region’s gross domestic product.
The 10th meeting of GCC ministers responsible for tourism was held in Manama, Bahrain, chaired by Bahrain’s Tourism Minister Fatima bint Jaafar Al Sairafi. The meeting included Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb, participating as part of Bahrain’s presidency of the GCC’s 46th session.
GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi stated the tourism figures “do not merely represent indicators of growth” but reflect significant economic and development
gains. He outlined the next phase focused on strengthening sector resilience, accelerating joint initiatives, and deepening tourism integration as set by the GCC Tourism Strategy 2023-2030.
Ministers discussed a joint action plan to accelerate tourism recovery, joint promotional campaigns, the development of unified Gulf tourism packages, and efforts to expand the GCC’s international tourism presence. They reviewed a joint media strategy and a GCC tourism data dashboard to improve measurement and identify growth opportunities.
The meeting considered unified tourist-guide licensing, common hotel classification guidelines, the selection of the GCC Tourism Capital for 2027, as well as international cooperation and the
development of an integrated Gulf tourism product.
This session followed an extraordinary meeting of GCC tourism ministers in April 2026, aimed at enhancing coordination and improving readiness to respond to evolving conditions in the sector.
