Thursday 10 / September / 2026
Manama: The Sultanate of Oman stressed the importance of transitioning Gulf tourism cooperation to a more integrated and effective stage through adopting joint initiatives and establishing specific executive programmes with clear timeframes that allow measuring progress and following up on procedures, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of GCC countries and consolidating their position as a leading global tourist destination.
This came during the Sultanate of Oman's participation, represented by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, in the 10th meeting of Ministers Responsible for Tourism in the GCC, which was held today in Manama, the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Sultanate of Oman's delegation to the meeting was headed by Sayyid Ibrahim Said Al Busaidi, Minister of Heritage and Tourism.
In the Sultanate of Oman's address, the Minister of Heritage and Tourism affirmed that the tourism sector in the Arabian Gulf region is the fastest recovering and growing in the Middle East, calling for agreement on joint initiatives and organising efforts and expertise within a clear timetable to measure progress and track executive procedures to build an integrated Gulf destination.
He reviewed the experience of the Wilayat of Jabal Akhdar as a model for integrated tourism development, explaining that the number of hotel establishments in the Wilayat reached 95, providing more than 1,060 hotel rooms, with the number of visitors increasing by 9 percent from 203,629 by the end of 2024 to 222,151 during 2025.
During the meeting, agreement was reached to accelerate the implementation of priority initiatives, foremost of which are activating the tourism sector recovery plan, developing joint packages, programs, and routes, enhancing unified international promotion, developing a Gulf system for tourism data and statistics, and cooperating in the fields of innovation, digital transformation, and human capacity development.
The meeting also discussed the unified tourist guiding license, the guiding manual for hotel classification, and supporting the candidacy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for membership of the Executive Council of UN Tourism representing the Middle East region for the period from 2028 to 2031, affirming the commitment to building a more competitive and sustainable Gulf tourism sector that consolidates the region's position globally.
