Tourism revenue in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states rose 9.7% to $131.9 billion in 2025, according to data from the GCC Statistical Center (GCC-Stat).
The number of tourists arriving in the bloc grew 4.9% from 2024 to 75.7 million, the center said in its weekly bulletin, reported on Sunday by the Emirates News Agency (WAM) and CNN Business Arabic.
Travel between GCC countries also increased. The number of tourists moving within the bloc rose 3.6% to 20.1 million.
The hotel sector expanded, with the number of hotel establishments rising 4.8% to 12,400 in 2025.
The GCC comprises the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
The bulletin also said three GCC states ranked among the world’s top 20 countries in a 2025 index of emerging technology adoption, and three ranked among the top 25 in an index of online government services.
