Will the GCC Unified Visa Finally Integrate the Gulf?

Will the ‘Grand Tours’ GCC Unified Visa Finally Integrate the Gulf?

The imminent launch of the GCC Unified Visa marks a major acceleration of the Gulf states’ integration into a single market.

Alex Schulte | 18 November 2024

Something big is happening on the Arabian peninsula.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is set to launch a single visa allowing travel across its six member states – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Known as the Grand Tours visa, or the GCC Unified Tourist visa, it is set to launch in December 2024 or early 2025.

The Grand Tours Visa is more than just a tourism initiative, and its close similarity to the EU’s Schengen Area is no accident. This is the potentially most significant step toward genuine Gulf economic integration since the GCC’s formation.

A single visa system brings the long-held dream of a unified Gulf market that step closer.

Why This Time Is Different

Skeptical observers might think we’ve been here before. Since the GCC’s formation in 1981, its unity has been undermined by the power disparity between Saudi Arabia and its smaller neighbours, not to mention differing attitudes towards relations with Iran. Over the decades, the world has watched as pipelines have been put on ice and plans for currency and monetary unions crumbled. Gulf internal relations reached their nadir in 2017 when the other GCC states took part in an extraordinary blockade of Qatar.

But the winds have changed. The GCC Grand Tours visa is launching at a unique moment when the Gulf states’ strategic imperatives are finally beginning to align. As so often in this part of the world, the main driver is oil.

As future revenues from fossil fuels become less certain, all the GCC states are looking for new diversification strategies. Saudi Arabia’s dramatic opening under Vision 2030 is only the most visible. In the UAE, non-oil sectors now account for 73% of GDP, with Westerners flocking to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in huge numbers. Qatar and Bahrain are investing heavily in building tech ecosystems, Kuwait is seeking to stabilise its revenue streams by pouring money into global infrastructure projects, and Oman’s manufacturing sector is booming.

Whatever tensions still remain, the GCC states are united in preparing for a world after peak oil. The GCC Grand Tours visa will help solder them together into a coherent economic region.

Is a Single Arabian Market on its Way?

The launch of the GCC Unified Visa marks a big acceleration in the grinding, decades-long journey towards GCC integration. To grasp why, let’s look under the hood.

Any visa is the product of a mass of integrated systems. To put this in place, the GCC states’ border authorities are merging their IT architectures, setting up common databases and aligning on policy objectives. Once rolled out, these frameworks will be difficult to tear asunder.

The creation of a common travel area shows the GCC states clearly now feel they can trust each other to manage access to each other’s borders. This would have been near-unthinkable just seven years ago when Saudi Arabia closed its border with Qatar.

The visa should also safeguard the future of the long-mooted but perpetually delayed Gulf Railway project to link all six nations, now reportedly back on course for a 2030 completion.

Barring a major exogenous shock, the stage is set for the GCC states to pool more resources and sovereignty beyond the existing common market and customs union. It may not be long before overseas companies can treat the Gulf as a truly single market with coordinated tax, legislative and accounting regimes.

Why the GCC Unified Visa Matters Beyond Tourism

While positioned primarily as a tourism initiative, the visa will be a fillip for businesses looking to expand their presence in the Gulf.

By enabling stays exceeding 30 days across all six nations, the visa creates huge opportunities for business mobility. Companies can now build bridges across the region without the time and expense of applying for multiple visas. While the visa is unlikely to permit full-time work, executives will still be able to use it to test markets and build bridges with potential clients.

Seamless cross-border travel should result in healthier diversification, benefiting both businesses and the regional ecosystem in a virtuous circle. The outsized visibility of Saudi and Emirati megaprojects risk crowding out other GCC initiatives and increasing risk for ‘all-in’ investors. The Grand Tours visa may balance matters by enabling businesses prospecting in NEOM or Jebel Ali to also test the waters in Kuwait or Bahrain during the same trip. Capital – and returns – could flow more evenly throughout the region.

There are geopolitical benefits here too. B2B companies based in Doha will then be able to compete – and partner – with firms in Jeddah on a level ground to provide services to foreign companies in the Gulf. A strong, intertwined commercial ecosystem may discourage outbreaks of the intraregional tensions that have previously hindered the path to integration.

How to Take Advantage of the GCC Unified Visa

The Grand Tours visa is a big deal for businesses with interests in the Gulf. With its release date still unconfirmed yet seemingly imminent, here’s how to get yourself ready.

Adapt a regional strategy

The first change to make is a mindset shift. The visa will enable businesses to treat the Gulf as a single economic zone, rather than six separate states. It’s time to start thinking of it in the same way.

In advance of the launch, revise your national market strategies to encompass the region as a whole. That means forming networks throughout the Gulf. Saudi Arabia’s Regional Headquarters program heavily incentivises foreign companies to base their regional operations in the Kingdom, but that shouldn’t preclude establishing secondary hubs in other cities.

Get cross-culturally fluent

The nascent Gulf ecosystem benefits from a shared language, similar political systems, a common religion and high levels of English proficiency. But the six countries are not culturally identical. Subtle but pertinent differences regularly catch foreign businesses out.

For instance, you wouldn’t organise a business meeting on a Sunday in the UAE, but this would be perfectly appropriate in Saudi Arabia, where the working day starts a day earlier. To protect your regional strategy from unnecessary lapses in credibility, you should build cross-cultural competency within your organisation.

Prepare your internal systems

Cross-border business travel in the Gulf will soon be commonplace. But given the size of the Arabian Peninsula, this creates new operational pressures for companies sending their teams out for short-term visits via the Grand Tours Visa.

Mobility strategies, employee support structures and contingency plans must now span an area only slightly smaller than India. This will require forming partnerships with accommodation providers, third-party contractors and, in some cases, national authorities across multiple states.

You should use the time before the visa’s official launch to develop the internal infrastructure to handle this expanded frame of travel.