BrazilInflux of tourists to GCC to drive hotels and workforce boom
The tourism workforce in the GCC is projected to more than double from 2020 to 2030, according to analysis from Roland Berger. Within the same period, overnight visitors are also expected to more than double, thanks to continued investments in tourism attractiveness and infrastructure.
The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region has benefited from a major boost to its hospitality market. And it is no wonder why: These countries have a lot to offer travelers from around the world, from world-class cities like Dubai and Doha, to numerous natural and cultural heritage sites.
The expansion of infrastructure, including hotels and airports, has made tourism in the GCC more accessible than ever. With this boost to the tourism industry will also come a significant increase in the tourism workforce.
Overnight guest numbers in the GCC countries have fluctuated over the years, but there has been an overall positive trend. The regional tourism industry has been showing steady growth, with a peak in 2019 just before lockdowns brought international travel to a halt.
Most visitors head to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with Bahrain being the third most visited country in the GCC. The region has demonstrated a robust recovery in the number of overnight guests following the pandemic, with Saudi Arabia experiencing a fourfold increase between 2021 and 2022.
Saudi Arabia has set an ambitious goal for their tourism sector, aiming for 39 million overnight guests by 2030. This demonstrates the country’s goal of becoming a significant player in the global tourism industry.
For their part, the UAE anticipates hosting 40 million overnight visitors by 2030, which shows their desire to become the region’s premier tourist destination, and hints at the ongoing competition between these two countries.
These growth trajectories call for an expansion of the infrastructure that will allow these countries to accommodate for so many more visitors. Plans are already well underway for more hotel rooms across the GCC region.
The UAE is hoping to reach 304,000 individual accommodations by 2030, while Saudi Arabia is working towards 450,000 keys within the same timeframe. Together, hotel rooms in these two countries make up 80% of the total in the entire region.
When it comes to the tourism workforce, more visitors mean a growing need for more workers. The UAE is expecting around 872,000 in their tourism workforce by 2030, up from 580,000 in 2018. Saudi Arabia, for their part, is reaching for the stars with 1.6 million tourism workers by 2030.
Hotels are hiring as new jobs are being created across the GCC, but again, the UAE and Saudi Arabia make up the lion’s share of the region’s tourism workforce (84% in 2022). Most workers in these markets in the GCC countries are from South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, among others.
As these countries diversify their economies away from fossil fuels, a growing international outlook is fueling further growth for the tourism sector. In order to get there, GCC leaders are putting a lot of attention on tourism and other industries like finance, technology, sports, and real estate.
“Tourism in the GCC region is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven by visionary strategies and significant investments,” said Richard Stolz, principal at Roland Berger.
“Each country, from the cultural richness of Saudi Arabia and the luxurious allure of the UAE to the innovative urban developments in Qatar, is uniquely contributing.”
The UAE is generally considered the top destination for tourists in the GCC region, with Dubai’s hotels performing the best among other Middle Eastern cities, according to a previous report. Despite that, Saudi Arabia has had the most visitors in recent years, though many of these visitors are likely there for religious pilgrimages.
And while Saudi Arabia might not manage to surpass the UAE just yet in tourism, a recent report showed that the Saudi tourism market was the fastest growing in the world. So that could very well change in the coming years.
