GCC countries are set to introduce a Schengen-style GCC Grand Tours visa. In the initial phase, the visa will be issued for trial launch, with an official roll-out expected to follow the trial period.
The visa will allow seamless travel across the GCC countries- Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman, imitating the Schengen model. Jassim Albodevi, the GCC Secretary-Counsel, confirmed the visa is in its final approval phase and the applications will be available soon through a digital platform.
Tourism and Economy to Get a Major Boost
The GCC citizens already enjoy visa-free travel within the region. However, the new arrangement will facilitate the millions of foreign residents living in the GCC.
Simplifying the visa process and extending its validity period between 30 to 90 days, the initiative has lowered the travel cost. Instead of applying for six different visas, applicants can now travel to six different countries on a single visa.
The Minister of Economy of the UAE, Abdullah Bintouk Almarri, said that the visa will facilitate all residents and not just the national passport holders.
GCC visa is anticipated to facilitate travel, enhance regional connectivity, and tourism in the region. Economists believe that the single increase the combine visitors’ number by 15-20% in the first three years, while giving the GCC countries billions in revenue from tourism.
The visa’s digital platform will simplify applications, also aligning with global technological advancements and security standards. The visa was approved by the GCC ministers in late 2023. The primary focus of visa is to grow tourism economies by easing cross-border travel and branding GCC as a single and unified travel package.
Compared with Europe’s Schengen System, which allows travel across 27 countries, while small in scale, the Gulf Initiative follows a similar ambition to present the region as a single interconnected travel destination.
Big travel news is on the horizon: the GCC Unified Tourist Visa, officially named GCC Grand Tours, is set to launch its trial phase later this year.
Think of it as a simpler, smarter way to explore the six Gulf nations:UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman — with… pic.twitter.com/HrhX8KaK0c
— Elite Merit Real Estate Dubai (@EliteMeritDubai) September 4, 2025
Unified Visa Brings the Gulf Closer Together
Tourism is already a key component of the Gulf economies, with the UAE welcoming 18.7 million tourist overnight visitors in 2024 and Saudi Arabia recording 116 million visitors in the same year. This plan is also in alliance with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which seeks economic diversification plans. The unified visa will also allow travelers to combine very different Gulf experiences in a single trip. For example, a tourist can experience Dubai’s futuristic skyline, the muskets, historic souks, Bahrain’s Formula One Grand Prix, and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ula Heritage Sites and Qatar’s world-class museums.
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The UAE’s Ittihad Rail project will further facilitate travel prospects by connecting seven emirates of the UAE, eventually linking to Saudi Arabia. The budget airlines like FlyDubai, Air Arabia, and Jazira Airways will make cross-border Gulf travel faster and cheaper than ever. However, experts warn that the overstay or misuse of visas is a potential drawback that could become a hurdle in the success of this initiative.