Muscat:Gulf Cooperation Council: The total economic value of the tourism sector in the GCC countries rose to around USD 254.7 billion in 2025, with tourism-related employment reaching nearly 4.5 million jobs.
According to Oman News Agency, the "Strategic Tourism Ambition in the GCC Countries" report by the GCC Statistical Centre highlights the progress of the Gulf tourism sector. The report states that the sector is advancing towards the Gulf Strategy for Tourism 2022-2030 goals, with an average progress rate of approximately 73.8 percent through 2025.
The strategy outlines six main goals: increasing inbound trips, the direct GDP of the travel and tourism sector, inbound tourist spending, the sector's GDP share, domestic tourist spending, and direct jobs.
In 2025, inbound visitors to GCC countries reached 89.9 million, achieving 69.9 percent of the 2030 target of 128.7 million. Inbound tourist spending rose to USD 131.9 billion, achieving 70.2 percent of the USD 188 billion target. Domestic tourist spending reached USD 42.9 billion, achieving 87.6 percent of the 2030 target of USD 49 billion. The direct GDP of the travel and tourism sector recorded USD 101.7 billion, representing 69.8 percent of the 2030 target of USD 145.8 billion.
The sector's contribution to the GDP of GCC countries increased to 4.6 percent in 2025, achieving 70.8 percent of the 2030 target of 6.5 percent. Direct jobs in the sector totaled 2.2 million, reaching 74.7 percent of the 2030 target of approximately 2.9 million jobs.
These indicators affirm the GCC countries' presence in global tourism, with their share of total international tourism at 5 percent and global tourism revenues at 6.9 percent in 2025. The report also notes that GCC countries hold the top six positions in the Arab world for passport strength, as per the Henley Passport Index 2026, showing cumulative improvement in the ranking of Gulf passports.
