Dubai: The proposal for a single visa system for the entire GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) has been under discussion for almost three years, and the region's travel and tourism industry is pushing the federal authorities to introduce it as quickly as possible.
The visa, once adopted, will enable visitors to tour all six GCC countries — the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to Gulf News during the region's largest travel fair, Arabian Travel Market 2011, Shaikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, said: "It should happen ‘today' according to me, but it will take a while. The sooner you do it, the faster the UAE, especially, can witness an increase in visitor numbers."
Emphasising the current turmoil in the region, he said: "I think it is the perfect and the right time to introduce such a visa in the region.
Shifting destinations
"Especially, with so much going on in the Arab world at the moment, we saw a lot of tourists shifting their destinations to the UAE.
"By having such a visa, it would make it so much easier to divert travellers' plans while they are right here rather than them having to go back to their home countries and then change the visa and come back again."
Asked how he saw the move benefitting Sharjah, Shaikh Sultan said: "Of course, the move will benefit the emirate a lot. We do struggle with getting different numbers of people from different places. Once they open up the single visa for the entire Gulf region, it will make it far easier for people to travel from one country to another within the region instead of waiting for one country to give you a visa.
"This is something that we as a local government might not have a hand in. But I hope it will make things easier for tourists coming into the GCC."
In Qatar, meanwhile, a unified GCC visa would help give an additional boost to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
As Soha Mousa, Head of Promotions at the Qatar Tourism Authority, told Gulf News: "It would certainly benefit Qatar in a big way, but whether it would happen before the 2022 World Cup or not, we are not sure yet."
He added that it would give the country a much bigger flow of tourists during the World Cup.
Qatar already has a joint visa with Oman, which enables tourists arriving in Qatar to travel between Oman and Qatar without having to obtain a separate visa for Oman.
"Still, we are definitely with this [GCC-wide visa] happening as it will enable people to move freely around the entire GCC region," said Mousa.
On a different note, it is the emerging cruise industry in the region which is most eagerly awaiting the single GCC visa.
As Helen Beck, Regional Director, EMEA for Royal Caribbean International, said: "With the process we have today, that's blocking guests from key countries such as Russia, China, South Africa, Brazil and other such emerging markets, to visit here and join a cruise.
"These markets have a large aspirational population that wants to travel and come to the UAE and join a cruise.
"But it costs them approximately $150 per person to just come in and out of the country. If the GCC single visa happens, we would certainly get a great uptake in cruise guests."
She added: "The single GCC visa would be such a great achievement. We as a cruise industry would really appreciate the facilitation of the visa process as it is relevant to cruise guests — it cuts the cost and cuts the processing. We have been talking to the authorities for the last three years for it."
Hoteliers in the region also cannot wait for the single GCC visa.
Speaking to Gulf News, Jeff Strachan, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Middle East and Africa Continent at Marriott International, said: "More than tourism it would help facilitate the ease of doing business in the region. Such a visa would certainly make it a lot easier for businessmen, especially, to do business in the Gulf."
