Tourist arrivals in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries exceeded 75 million in 2025, marking a 4.8% increase over the previous year, according to GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi. Intra-GCC travel also rose by 3.6% to reach approximately 20 million tourists. Saudi Arabia alone received nearly 30 million international tourists in 2025, representing almost 40% of the region’s total visitor numbers. In the first half of 2026, Saudi Arabia welcomed about 3.2 million tourists from other GCC countries.
Tourism spending across GCC states surpassed $131 billion in 2025, up from $120 billion in 2024. The combined direct and indirect impact
of tourism on GCC economies reached roughly $254 billion, accounting for 11.4% of gross domestic product in the region. These figures were presented during the 10th meeting of GCC ministers responsible for tourism held in Manama, Bahrain.
10th GCC Tourism Ministers Meeting Discusses Regional Strategy
The meeting was chaired by Bahrain’s Tourism Minister Fatima bint Jaafar Al Sairafi, with Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb representing the kingdom. Ministers reviewed a joint GCC action plan focusing on accelerating the recovery of the tourism sector, developing Gulf-wide promotional campaigns, and boosting demand.
Key initiatives included establishing a joint media strategy, implementing a GCC tourism data and indicators dashboard
to enhance performance measurement, introducing a unified tourist-guide license, common hotel classification standards, and selecting the GCC Tourism Capital for 2027. The ministers had also held an extraordinary meeting in April 2026 focused on coordination and sector readiness.
Focus on Resilience and Integration Through GCC Tourism Strategy 2023-2030
Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi emphasized that the tourism statistics “do not merely represent indicators of growth” but reflect substantial economic and development achievements. Future efforts under the GCC Tourism Strategy 2023-2030 will prioritize strengthening sector resilience, accelerating joint projects, and deepening tourism integration among member states.
Saudi Arabia’s active participation in the GCC meetings under Bahrain’s presidency of the 46th session underscores its
commitment to advancing joint tourism initiatives. The strategy promotes coordinated marketing campaigns, expertise sharing, unified licensing, and common hotel classification across GCC countries to support steady sector growth and intra-regional travel.
