20 Million Tourists Traveled Between Gulf Countries in 2025

Data from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Statistical Center revealed that more than 20 million tourists traveled between GCC member states in 2025, marking a 3.6 percent increase compared to 2024. The data, released in a bulletin issued by the Center in observance of World Tourism Day under the title “GCC Tourism in the Era of Smart Transformation,” highlighted key indicators of the tourism sector and the level of digital readiness across the GCC states.

The Center projected that tourism would contribute approximately $365.7 billion to the GCC’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, while the sector is expected to generate 5.8 million jobs in the region by the same year. The Center emphasized that rapid transformations driven by digital technologies and artificial intelligence are propelling GCC tourism into a new phase reliant on data and innovation to enhance the tourist experience, support decision-making, develop skills, and improve the efficiency and sustainability of destination management.

Preliminary data from the bulletin indicated that tourist arrivals to GCC states reached approximately 75.7 million in 2025, a 4.9 percent rise compared to 2024. Meanwhile, tourism revenues increased by 9.7 percent to reach approximately $131.9 billion. The significant growth in revenues relative to the rate of tourist arrival growth points to an improvement in the economic value derived from tourism flows and a rise in average tourist spending, with average revenue reaching approximately $1,743 per arriving tourist during the year.

The bulletin further showed that the total number of hotel establishments in GCC states reached approximately 12,400, a 4.8 percent increase compared to 2024, reflecting continued expansion in accommodation capacity and investment in lodging facilities and tourism services.