Tourism Sector

The GCC countries have achieved a great progress in developing its tourism sector, though there are some differences in the efforts and strategies of the GCC countries to magnify the role of this sector and increase its performance in the GDP. It can be agreed upon that this sector has gained a great interest, especially that some GCC countries tend to develop new touristic products in accordance with its customs and tradition, rather than supporting the infrastructure of this sector through establishing touristic resorts and shopping malls. According to the statistics of the GCC General Secretariat, the number of hotels for the year 2004 in the GCC countries reached about 1607 hotels, 920 of them in Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE with 366, Oman with 147, Qatar 35, Kuwait 47, Bahrain 92 hotels. However, the number of hotels and tourist facilities are rapidly increasing in the GCC during the last three years.