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Bahrain Tourism Minister Fatima Al Sairafi was quoted as saying that the Gulf Cooperation Council countries are discussing plans to provide Schengen visas for tourists from the Gulf region.
According to Zawya, Al-Sairafi told a panel discussion at the Arab Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai last week that countries are looking at how to achieve a unified single visa.
Explaining the benefits of such plans, she said: “When we announced our five-year strategy to 2026, we set a KPI of 8.3 million tourists for 2022. But 9.9 million tourists came. What we did last year A key initiative is the joint promotion of Bahrain with other GCC countries, starting with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“We noticed that co-promoting Bahrain as a unified destination resulted in an increase in footfall in the country, while also increasing the diversity of nationalities,” she said.
“We see that people who fly to Europe from abroad often spend their time in several countries rather than one. We really see the value that this can bring not only to each country, but to all of us. value,” Al Sairafi said.
Fahd Hamidaddin, chief executive of the Saudi Tourism Authority, also praised the success of the unified destination strategy, noting that the country uses the tagline “Welcome to Arabia” to position its entire tourism brand.
“We see tourism as a region, not a country,” Hamidaddin said. “World travelers see the region as a whole, and that’s how we should think about it. [The] The success of each other complements each other, lifting all boats like a tide. “
Abdulla Al Saleh, Deputy Minister of the UAE Government, said the strategy has also seen the emirate rise in the tourism rankings over the years.
“We have seven emirates in the UAE, and each emirate has developed itself as a destination for tourists. They compete with each other, but it’s healthy competition that adds value to the UAE as a tourist destination,” he said.
Samira Al Gharib, Assistant Undersecretary for Tourism at Kuwait’s Ministry of Trade, said the Gulf Cooperation Council Ministry of the Interior is considering a plan to “unify tourist visas” and that the Ministry of the Interior will be responsible for visa-related procedures.
“The flat visa is aimed at regular visitors from the GCC,” she said.
Once the system is finalized, nationals from 35 countries will be able to visit the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman on a single visa, according to a Middle East Briefing report. With a unified visa, GCC residents can also travel to all GCC member states visa-free like nationals.
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