RIYADH, 19 May 2003 — Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, said here yesterday the Gulf states were preparing a proposal to issue unified tourist visas for foreign tourists.
The unified visa — on the model of the Schengen visa for European countries — could boost tourism revenue for the Kingdom and the Gulf countries at a time when the worldwide tourism industry is suffering under threats of terrorism and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
Prince Sultan said that “the proposal to issue a unified visa for the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is under consideration.” But he added: “It is a matter for the GCC, which is discussing this proposal to see if it is possible to issue such unified tourist visas by common consensus.”
GCC immigration officials recently recommended working out the modalities of a unified tourist visa.
The prince was speaking to journalists after signing a memorandum of understanding with Hail Governor Prince Saud ibn Abdul Mohsen to promote tourism in the Hail region. The city of Hail, in the vicinity of Mount Shammar, is known for its rich history, antiquities and ancient castles besides a rainy season and moderate temperatures.
“The tourist industry in Hail is to be promoted in cooperation with SCT following the MOU,” Prince Sultan said. He added that several tourist projects would be implemented under the agreement but did not elaborate.
Only 24 percent of Saudis spend their holidays in the Kingdom. Forty-seven percent of Saudis spend their holidays in non-Arab countries and 29 percent in Arab countries. Last year Saudi Arabia issued some 6,546 visas to foreign tourists. This is in addition to an ever-growing number of Muslim pilgrims coming for Umrah every year. In the nine-month period allocated for Umrah during 2002-03, around 2.5 million Muslims from about 170 countries came to the Kingdom.
The private sector has spent some $6.6 billion to set up tourism companies and projects in a new bid to attract foreign tourists. Tourism has also been identified as one of the 10 areas of cooperation in a plan of action initiated by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to strengthen economic and commercial cooperation among its members.
