Kuwait: Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jassim Mohammed Al Budaiwi, announced that the number of international tourists coming to the GCC countries reached 68.1 million tourists in 2023, with a growth rate of 42.8 percent compared to 2019.
During his speech at the ninth meeting of the GCC ministers of tourism, held in Kuwait, Al Budaiwi explained that the value of tourism revenues for the GCC countries amounted to $110.4 billion for the year 2023, with a growth rate of 28.2 percent compared to 2019.
He pointed out that the GCC countries recorded qualitative leaps that exceeded all expectations, by achieving 58.7 percent of the 2030 target of $188 billion, noting that the market share of the Gulf countries in global tourism amounted to 5.2 percent, which It consolidates its position as a major hub in the global tourism scene.
At the level of added value to the GDP, Al Budaiwi stressed that the tourism sector achieved a significant economic contribution of $223.4 billion to the GCC countries' GDP, with a remarkable annual growth rate of 29.4 percent between 2022 and 2023, adding that the tourism sector provided 1.5 million jobs during 2023, with a growth rate of 17 percent compared to 2020.
The Secretary-General of the GCC pointed out that the approval of the implementation of projects within the Gulf Tourism Strategy (2023 - 2030) comes to enhance the tourism status of the GCC countries regionally and internationally, and in accordance with the lofty directives of Their Majesties and Highnesses, the leaders of the GCC countries, and then thanks to the efforts of the Committee of Their Excellencies and Highnesses, the Ministers Responsible for Tourism in the GCC countries.
