The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprising of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman is moving forward with a long-planned Unified Tourist Visa that could transform travel across the Gulf region. This initiative, often described as a “Schengen-style visa” for the Gulf, aims to let visitors enter all six member states on a single travel permit, eliminating the need to apply for separate visas for each country.
Officials sometimes refer to this new permit as the GCC Grand Tours Visa or Unified GCC Tourist Visa. Travel and tourism authorities have repeatedly emphasised that this is not just a travel document but a key step in deeper regional economic integration and tourism growth.
