THE GCC plans to launch a unique regional Schengen-style visa for tourists. This is another innovative and smart move to boost tourism in the region which was heavily impacted during the last couple of years due to Covid-19 regulations.
This scheme has been successful in Europe where in the past a single EU visa has allowed tourists to explore multiple destinations, I can say from experience having travelled on Eurostar to France, Belgium and Netherlands on a single trip and visa.
Each country in the Middle East has its own appeal and with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being connected via the King Fahad Causeway, a single visa would allow a business or tourist coming to Bahrain to also meet friends/family in Saudi or perhaps perform an Umrah there on the same visa.
Oman has breath-taking mountains and valleys for those that feel adventurous whilst Qatar is now taking the lead for hosting sporting events in the region after the success of the FIFA World Cup. So a single visa allows tourists to combine business, leisure, entertainment and sporting events.
Dubai remains the main business and tourist hub in the GCC and often tourists want to extend their stay in the UAE to include the Shaikh Zayed Mosque and Waterworld in Abu Dhabi so a single visa would facilitate that. In addition, its refreshing to see that Etihad and Emirates are collaborating to allow passengers to arrive in Dubai with Emirates and use Abu Dhabi as their exit airport to fly out with either Etihad or Emirates.
The GCC countries share common cultural and religious values so it makes a lot of sense to have a unified immigration policy which can only boost economic situation for all the countries. It will further end any existing political tensions between Qatar and the other GCC countries, the World Cup was the first step towards achieving this goal.
This unified visa will also increase employment in the region and promote the GCC as a safe and attractive tourist attraction to a diverse market. The tourism ministries will need to devise attractive GCC travel packages with dedicated apps that allow travellers to book their entire holiday (including flights, hotels and visas, etc) on a single platform.
Tanvir
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