The GCC Unified Visa will let visitors tour all six Gulf states on one permit, with officials signalling implementation phases through 2025 and early 2026. Because Saudi Arabia leads the region on tourism growth, room pipeline and connectivity, it is best positioned to capture the biggest uplift in stays, spending and executive travel once cross-border friction falls.
A Schengen-style GCC Unified Visa was approved by Gulf ministers and is moving toward rollout, enabling seamless trips across Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
This explainer covers what the visa is, timelines, how it will work, and why Saudi Arabia stands to gain most. Saudi tourism hit 100 million visitors in 2023 and contributed SR444.3bn to GDP, with ambitions raised to 150 million by 2030, evidence of scale and momentum. Boards, investors and operators will see where the uplift lands and how to prepare commercially.
The GCC Unified Visa is a single, short-stay tourist permit that will allow one-visa travel across all six GCC states. It is designed for tourism and family visits, not employment. Public guidance indicates a fully digital application via a unified portal, with potential single-country or multi-country options. Exact price and validity are not yet confirmed; credible travel outlets report 30–90 day durations are under consideration.
Definition: A one-permit system that replaces today’s country-by-country tourist visas in the Gulf, simplifying multi-stop itineraries.
GCC ministers approved the concept in 2023 in Muscat. Officials from the UAE have repeatedly indicated 2024–2025 as the regulatory readiness window, with implementation moving through competent interior ministries. Most recent round-ups point to late 2025 pilot activity, with wider operational maturity into early 2026 depending on state readiness.
Takeaway for planners: Treat 2025 as the transition year; assume 2026 for steady-state operations across the bloc.
Saudi Arabia has become the region’s growth engine in travel and tourism. WTTC notes record visitor spending and a SR444.3bn GDP contribution in 2023; the Kingdom hit 100m visitors seven years ahead of plan and is now targeting 150m by 2030. That base effect means each extra Gulf stop converts into longer stays and higher spend in Saudi once the unified visa lowers friction.
Independent pipeline data show Saudi leading the Middle East and Africa in hotel rooms under contract—about 42,800 as of April 2025—with a luxury/upscale skew aligned to high-spend multi-country travellers. Put simply: supply is arriving where demand will land.
Riyadh Air adds a powerful hub play, with significant narrow- and wide-body orders and plans to begin passenger services, supporting multi-stop itineraries and stopovers once a single visa is live. Expect more flexible scheduling and new city pairs that aid cross-GCC circuits.
Although the visa is tourist-focused, it reduces friction for short business visits—supplier audits, site tours, partner meetings—especially when executives can bolt Riyadh onto UAE or Qatar trips without a second visa run. This dovetails with the Regional Headquarters (RHQ) Program, which ties government contracting access to maintaining an RHQ in the Kingdom; the rule went live 1 January 2024 and has accelerated multinational moves into Riyadh.
While final regulations are pending, travellers should anticipate:
These features have been stated or summarised by officials and reputable travel explainers; confirm specifics at launch.
Risk watch: Initial phasing may differ by state while systems bed in; communicate rules clearly and update T&Cs frequently in 2025–26.
The GCC Unified Visa is more than a policy update—it is market design. The operators who package multi-country experiences and the boards that back Saudi-first itineraries will win early. If you’d like a route-to-market plan built around the unified visa, book a free consultation with Peninsula.
Alistair Paine brings 15 years of dedicated experience in Saudi market entry, guiding Fortune 500 companies and innovative scale-ups through successful establishment in the Kingdom. His expertise in Saudi company formation, licensing and market entry strategy, positions him as a leading authority and consultant in international business expansion to Saudi Arabia.
Schedule a free consultation with Alistair and the Peninsula team to understand which market entry strategy is best suited to your business setup in Saudi Arabia.
Email: Alistair@peninsulacs.com
