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CEMIS (Mgt)

|ECON 424: Economics of Gulf Cooperation Council |

Chapter -1: Introduction

CCASG (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf )

( مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية‎ )

Also known as GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)

( مجلس التعاون الخليجي )

is a political and economic union of the Arab States constituting the Arabian Peninsula, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. On May 10, 2011, a request by Jordan to join the GCC was formally being considered and Morocco was invited to join the Council.

Founding / Establishing

Created on May 25, 1981, the original Council comprised the 630-million-acre (2,500,000 km2) Persian Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. The unified economic agreement between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council was signed on November 11, 1981 in Abu Dhabi. These countries are often referred to as The GCC States.

Objectives

Among the stated objectives are:

• formulating similar regulations in various fields such as economy, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration;

• fostering scientific and technical progress in industry, mining, agriculture, water and animal resources;

• establishing scientific research centers;

• setting up joint ventures;

• unified military presence (Peninsula Shield Force)

• encouraging cooperation of the private sector;

• strengthening ties between their peoples; and

• establishing a common currency by 2010;

However, Oman announced in December 2006 it would not be able to meet the target date. Following the announcement that the central bank for the monetary union would be located in Riyadh and not in the UAE, the UAE announced their withdrawal from the monetary union project in May 2009.

The name Khaleeji has been proposed as a name for this currency. If realised, the GCC monetary union would be the second most important supranational monetary union in the world in terms of GDP, after the euro area.

This area has some of the fastest growing economies in the world, mostly due to a boom in oil and natural gas revenues coupled with a building and investment boom backed by decades of saved petroleum revenues. In an effort to build a tax base and economic foundation before the reserves run out, the UAE's investment arms, including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, retain over $900 billion in assets. Other regional funds also have several hundred billion dollars.

The region is also an emerging hotspot for events, including the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Doha also submitted an unsuccessful application for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. However, Qatar was later chosen to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

In 2006, its nominal GDP was $717.8 billion (IMF April 2007), led by spectacular growth in United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In 2007, its GDP (nominal) was $1,022.62 billion (IMF April 2008). IMF predicts its GDP to reach $1,112.076 billion at end of 2008 and $1,210.112 billion at end of 2009. Qatar is expected to overtake top ranked Luxembourg in GDP (nominal) per capita next year for the world's top spot. See List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita.

Recently, the leaders of the Council have come under fire for doing too little to combat the economic downturn. While GCC countries were among the first hit - and the first to respond to the crisis - their programs have been prone to disparities, and they have placed their region on the brink of even deeper crises. Recovery plans have been criticized for crowding out the private sector, failing to set clear priorities for growth, failing to restore weak consumer and investor confidence, and undermining long-term stability.[7]

Logo

The logo of the GCC consists of two concentric circles. On the upper part of the larger circle, the Bismillah phrase is written in Arabic. On the lower part of that circle, the Council's full name is written in Arabic. The inner circle contains an embossed hexagonal shape representing the Council's six member countries. The inside of the hexagon is filled by a map encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, on which the areas of the member countries are colored brown. No borders are shown.

GCC Logo

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GCC Flag

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Organizations

The GCC Patent Office was approved in 1992 and established soon after in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Applications are filed and prosecuted in the Arabic language before the GCC Patent Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is a separate office from the Saudi Arabian Patent Office. A GCC Patent cannot co-exist with a national application in any of the member states; therefore, a national application must be relinquished within 90 days of filing the GCC Patent Application.

A GCC common market was launched on January 1, 2008. The common market grants national treatment to all GCC firms and citizens in any other GCC country, and in doing so removes all barriers to cross country investment and services trade. A customs union was declared in 2003, but practical implementation has lagged behind. Indeed, shortly afterwards, Bahrain concluded a separate Free Trade Agreement with the USA, in effect cutting through the GCC's agreement, and causing much friction.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar on December 15, 2009 announced the creation of a Monetary Council, a step toward establishing a shared currency. The board of the council, which will set a timetable for establishing a joint central bank and choose a currency regime, will meet for the first time on March 30, 2010. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem al- Sabah said on December 8, 2009 that a single currency may take up to 10 years to establish. The original target was in 2010. Oman and the UAE later announced their withdrawal of the proposed currency until further notice.

Member States

There are six member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) or Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

|Flag | |Official name (English) |Official name (Arabic) |

| |Common name | | |

|[pic] |Bahrain |Kingdom of Bahrain |Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn |

|[pic] |Kuwait |State of Kuwait |Dawlat al-Kuwayt |

|[pic] |Oman |Sultanate of Oman |Salṭanat ʻUmān |

|[pic] |Qatar |State of Qatar |Dawlat Qaṭar |

|[pic] |Saudi Arabia |Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya |

|[pic] |United Arab Emirates |State of the United Arab Emirates |Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah |

Map indicating CCASG members

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Related states

Not all of the countries neighboring the Persian Gulf are members of the council; Iran and Iraq are currently excluded. The associate membership of Iraq in certain GCC-related institutions was discontinued after the invasion of Kuwait

Iraq

The associate membership of Iraq in certain GCC-related institutions was discontinued after the invasion of Kuwait. The GCC States have announced that they support the Document of The International Compact with Iraq that was adopted at Sharm El-Sheikh on 4–5 May 2007. It calls for regional economic integration with the neighboring states but there is no prospect of Iraqi accession to the GCC.

Yemen

Yemen is (currently[update]) in negotiations for GCC membership, and hopes to join by 2016, despite the fact in the Arabian peninsula,common tribes, close Families relations common culture Same history as the ancestress land of most tribes in the Arabian peninsula but also that it has no coastline on the Persian Gulf. The GCC has already approved Yemen's accession to the GCC Standardization Authority, Gulf Organization for Industrial Consultancy, GCC Auditing and Accounting Authority, Gulf Radio and TV Authority, The GCC Council of Health Ministers, The GCC Education and Training Bureau, The GCC Council of Labour & and Social Affairs Ministers, and The Gulf Cup Football Tournament. The Council issued directives that all the necessary legal measures be taken so that Yemen would have the same rights and obligations of GCC member states in those institutions. There is, however, some resistance to full Yemeni membership amongst few GCC states, due to the country's poverty, different system of government, and the legality of qat in the country

Jordan

Jordan's request to join the GCC has now been welcomed (as of May, 2011), despite the fact that it has no coastline on the Persian Gulf, not in the Arabian peninsula and the differences in tribal societies structure, following efforts by Abdullah II of Jordan. Jordan's expertise in military is depicted here, as military assistance to combat political reform is one of the many assumptions that seek to explain why the GCC welcomed Jordan's potential membership, Jordan even have sent a unit of about 800 police and army to assist GCC troops in Bahrain. The force, however, operated under the umbrella of Saudi Arabia to avoid being publicly as trying to crush the predominantly Shiite uprising

Morocco

Morocco has been invited to join the GCC. Morocco has a well developed military that could assist in Saudi Arabia's efforts in the Yemen conflict. Because of the potential investment from GCC members, Morocco would also benefit from joining

Related organizations

The GCC members and Yemen are also members of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA). However, this is unlikely to significantly affect the agenda of the GCC as it has a more aggressive timetable than GAFTA and is seeking greater integration.

Tourism boom in the GCC Countries

Introduction:

Not only are GCC countries diversifying their economies from being primarily oil-dependent, their tourism industries are also offering a wide variety of choices

[pic]

• The Saadiyat Island Cultural District with the Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi in an artist's rendering.

Skyscraper hotels and massive shopping centers continue to rise. Wide roads are being laid. New ideas, such as building water and theme parks, to lure people are being introduced and implemented.

Several plans, ranging from holding shopping festivals in the UAE, to cultural and entertainment events in Oman, to sports activities in Qatar, have been drawn to attract tourists, mainly from other GCC countries.

The tourism sector in the GCC region is booming, and mega projects are mushrooming to elevate the region on the world's tourism map.

To put things in perspective in financial terms, here are some of the examples that made headlines recently in the Gulf.

The UAE expected to receive 10 million tourists in 2008 compared to 8.8 million in the previous year. Now it is the highest.

More than 30 multi-faceted entertainment resorts and theme parks are being built until 2012 with a projected investment of Dh228 billion ($62 billion), according to UAE, organizers of Middle East Attractions, Amusements, Parks, Leisure and Entertainment International Trade Exhibition (MEAAPLE) which will run in February.

And beyond the UAE, every year, nearly 17 million travelers cross the bridge linking Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Hakeer, the giant Saudi developer, planned to build seven International hotels in the main Saudi cities as well as Dubai with the cost of one billion Saudi riyals.

Qatar allocated $1.4 billion to build a number of shopping centers.

In Bahrain, plans are under way to open a giant shopping Centre at a cost of 25 million Bahraini dinars.

Oman plans to build a tourism city or tourism integrated project, including hotels, tourist village, market, natural park, golf hotel, and malls, at a cost of $15-20 billion on an area of 34 square km. The first phase is expected to be completed in 2010.

Some press reports have estimated the overall investment in internal tourism projects in GCC to reach nearly $380 billion in the next 10 years.

But GCC officials say these figures as "conservative estimates" in view of the contributions of both public and private sectors.

Private-Public sector Partnership

Tourism investments are carried out by private-public partnership, Gulf officials noted, where the first would provide hotels and shopping centers, while the second would provide infrastructure, such as roads, airports and communications.

At the same time, most GCC countries are providing incentives to private investors in tourism in the form of interest-free loans and cheap energy and labor.

"I think both private and public sector allocations would probably exceed $500 billion in the next 10 years. This depends on the result of the first two years of spending," Dr Abdul Aziz Abu Hamad Aluwaisheg, Minister Plenipotentiary, and Director of the Economic Integration Department Economic Affairs of the GCC, told Gulf News from Riyadh.

Pouring investments in the tourism sector comes at a time when GCC states are continuously increasing their efforts to diversify their oil and gas-based economies. Sky-rocketing oil prices are further pushing these efforts, according to officials and experts in the region.

"With oil revenues rising rapidly, GCC countries are in a better position nowadays to invest in diversification. Economic cities, tourism, financial centers are just some of the examples of diversification. Education and media outlets are other examples of diversified economies. All GCC countries have embarked on such projects, each according to its own pace," said Aluwaisheg, who has lectured at some of the big schools in the United States, including Columbia University in New York.

"In the long-term interests of the region's economy, it is very important for GCC countries to take strategic initiatives to diversify and be less dependent on oil revenues," said Dubai-based Mohammnad Dahmash, Partner & Middle East Leader of Real Estate Advisory Group partner at Ernst and Young. He also noted that oil is a depleting resource of energy and alternative energy sources are being sought globally.

Meanwhile, other experts in the field exclude the possibility of negative impact of competition as a result of duplication of services and tourist attractions offered by GCC countries.

"While most GCC countries are trying to further enhance tourism through festivals, the theme/attraction and demand drivers of the festivals are not entirely the same thereby eliminating the risk of duplication,"said Dahmash.

"For example, while Dubai promotes shopping/retail through the Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Summer Surprises, the Muscat festival has a cultural and entertainment theme associated with it. Meanwhile Doha is focusing actively on sports tourism," added Dahmash.

"Moreover, the target audience by age group is not the same either," Dahmash, based in Dubai, said in reference to the different age groups travelling for shopping, leisure and sport adventures.

"Leisure travellers will not be limited to sun and sand but will be able to find alternative entertainment projects like the Dubai and in UAE and entertainment district in Qatari Lusail," added Dahmash.

Beaches and giant malls are not the only types of tourism offered by GCC countries. Authorities have started working on several other forms, including education and medical tourism, though many believe both fields seemed to have a long way before getting well-established in the region.

"A significant number of GCC tourists will probably always prefer to travel abroad, but more could be done to attract some of them to travel within the GCC," said Aluwaisheg, describing recent decisions to open branches of Western cultural institutions in GCC cities as "steps in right direction".

In the past few years, Western universities, many with big names and long history, have opened branches in both UAE and Qatar. "Education is one important reason. Hundreds of thousands of GCC nationals travel abroad to study and train. Some of those students and trainees could be attracted inwards," added Aluwaisheg. Others agree.

"One avenue that is currently unexplored and could hold tremendous potential is education tourism. As world-class universities are establishing themselves in cities such as Dubai and Doha, the Middle East has the potential to become the education hub for the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] and South-East Asia region," said Dahmash.

Pilgrimage (Macca-Madinah)

At the same time, Saudi Arabia benefits from the religious tourism. It is estimated that pilgrimage to Makkah generates 27 billion Saudi riyals every year for country.

Apart from cultural, leisure, educational tourism, experts believe other tourism avenues that can be explored in the region including "business tourism" where the area could be promoted and presented as a suitable place for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).

Already some cities in the region, mainly Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have started to gain the reputation of cities for conferences and exhibitions.

Meanwhile, experts believe authorities in GCC countries can promote national or domestic tourism as form of national integration and national identity. "I have seen little of this in the Arab world (outside school children being sent to national historical sites)," noted Waleed Hazbun, Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University.

"Many tourists sites remain too commercial, shopping malls, amusements parks, while others, such as archeological ruins, have tended to mostly appeal western tourists," said Hazbun in an interview with Gulf News.

The GCC tourism is a "family-oriented" tourism, where a lot can be done in this regard if "things were made easy" for people to travel, experts noted.

"When a family from the Gulf region travels abroad, for France as an example, they visit Euro Disney. Very few would watch a play in a theatre," said Aluwaisheg. After all, "making travel easy" and lowering the cost to GCC nationals would greatly facilitate the movement of people among the member countries.

Tourism in GCC expected to grow 47.4% by 2016: 

[pic](MENAFN) The hospitality sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is projected to increase by 47.4 percent by 2016, Saudi Gazette reported.

The tourism sector is expected to increase from USD19.2 billion in 2011 to USD28.3 billion by 2016.

Alifiya Sura at Omnix International said: "We've seen a tremendous increase in the demand from the hospitality and tourism sector in the MENA region upgrading their IT infrastructure."

According to a VISA survey, 65 percent of global travelers carry their smartphones with them, and 54 percent take their computers.

Brighter side up for GCC tourism

The report published by management consultancy Booz & Company last week stating that GCC countries need to develop a better tourist offer if they are to take advantage of market opportunities made for interesting reading - and is of relevance to contractors.

As it points out, tourism has a “multiplier effect” on the economy, leading to a higher spend in other areas like construction and retail.

The report values worldwide tourism at $2.68tn – or 9% of the world’s economy. It is also set to rise by 70% over the next 20 years.

However, it warned that the GCC overall is underachieving, with only Qatar and the UAE ranked in the top third of a worldwide competitiveness index.

The GCC’s problems:

1) Attractions on offer in many countries are too narrow –

Saudi Arabia relies heavily on religious tourism, for instance, while Bahrain and Qatar focus on attracting business and conference travelers.

Lack of proper environmental monitoring can lead to rubbish-strewn streets and beaches that are a turn-off for many visitors.

2) Another big problem is visa restrictions.

Anyone who has travelled regularly within the GCC will have their own horror stories about the length of time they were forced to wait at passport control, and the surliness with which tourists can be greeted by some only adds to the feeling that they are not receiving the warmest welcome. First impressions count – and in the GCC they are often unnecessarily negative.

3) The report argues that a lack of ‘heritage’ sites also counts against many GCC countries – although let’s face it, the millions who already flock to Dubai are generally not coming with heritage village on top of their to-do lists.

Thankfully, these are problems can be easily solved with a bit of planning and some governmental will.

The GCC has many advantages for tourism:

1)Long periods of pleasant weather – particularly during the ‘off’ season for most of the northern hemisphere. The fact that three of the world’s best airlines are based here, and that airports have been undergoing massive upgrades to boost capacity are also in its favour.

2) Perhaps its biggest advantage is its spending power.

Dubai has led the way with a ‘build it and they will come’ spirit over the years, developing one-off wonders like the Burj Al Arab and Palm Jumeirah. Its hotel stock has grown exponentially, yet the emirate is still achieving occupancy rates that tourism heads in more established locations would envy.

Abu Dhabi is following suit with its world-class museum sites at Saadiyat Island.

Oman has set up investment vehicles to develop tourism around areas of natural beauty. Saudi Arabia is also reportedly planning a $1.33bn (SR5bn) fund for tourism projects.

3) No funding problem in GCC

Reinventing Tourism in the GCC: Building the Tourism Ecosystem: Latest data (September 19, 2013)

How to grow tourism?

Countries in the GCC can grow their tourism sector significantly by developing a national tourism sector strategy.

The best way to achieve this is through a three-step process:

a) define the tourism sector ecosystem;

b) develop strategic positioning and value proposition; and

c) develop tourism sector institutional framework.

Executive Summary:

Tourism has been growing rapidly in the Gulf Cooperation Council1 (GCC) countries, but this vital sector is still not meeting its potential. An insufficient assortment of tourism offerings, spotty marketing, and sporadic investment in the sector have limited tourism’s contribution to these economies.

To increase their appeal to international tourists, GCC countries must make changes to every part of their tourism “ecosystems.” They must improve their most visible tourism products and services, build up the institutions that support tourism, and address the system-level challenges that lead to tourists being disappointed with their visit and not returning. These problems can include inadequate physical and social infrastructure and insufficient attention to environmental issues.

This Perspective presents a framework to develop and execute a successful tourism sector strategy. It describes a three-step process, and the impact that a central tourism planning entity can have when it is refocused on the correct priorities. The recommendations have special relevance in the GCC, where tourism is starting to be integrated into national agendas.

1) These countries’ considerable wealth,

2) Appealing climates, and

3) Increasingly rich cultural attractions

These put them in a position where they can make substantive improvements and reap the benefits that come from thriving tourism sectors.

Over the next 20 years, the number of global tourist arrivals is forecasted to rise by as much as 70 percent, to 1.8 billion every year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

If there were any question about tourism’s vitality, this statistic answers it.

Impact of Tourism:

1) Tourism already accounts for 9 percent of world economic output, a level equal to automotives and not far below banking, and tourism dollars bring many benefits to destination countries.

2) A heavily visited country, one that takes in hundreds of millions, or billions, in tourism dollars, has a natural way of preserving its historic sites, generating support for small businesses, and burnishing its image.

3) Tourism income can also be a mechanism for fulfilling parts of a country’s economic agenda including human capital development and economic diversification.

In recent years, the countries of the GCC have collectively played host to millions of tourists, with arrival numbers increasing in most destinations. However, there is still a gap between the opportunity that GCC countries have in their tourism sectors, and what they have achieved.

Only two GCC countries—the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar—rank in the top third on the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.

All GCC countries have a considerable amount of work to do if they want to increase their share of tourism receipts—and realize the considerable socioeconomic benefits that come with that.

Tourism products and services attract travelers to a country. Of the two kinds of travelers—business and leisure—leisure travelers are more important, because they account for the largest share of total spending. Cultural and natural attractions,

beaches and resorts, and sports events are all products that appeal to leisure travelers.

Typically, countries trying to drive tourist arrivals will concentrate on one or two core product areas, and expand from there. For instance, Turkey initially focused on its cultural attractions, including the Topkapi Palace and the Hagia Sophia museum.

GCC TOURISM’S ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

The GCC tourism market, which consists of domestic, regional, and international travelers, has witnessed significant recent growth. To develop the sector systematically, policymakers will need to bear in mind the tourism sector’s six key competitive advantages as well as its three major disadvantages.

Sector Advantage 1. Ability to invest in capital-intensive tourism products. The generally strong economic position of most GCC countries means that they can invest in products that lure (attract) travelers, whether for business or pleasure.

Qatar’s building of sports stadia in advance of its hosting the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup is an example, as is Yas Waterworld, a new amusement park in Abu Dhabi.

2. Large airport capacities with easy connections to major tourism markets.

Most GCC countries are investing in their airports. The UAE is in the process of increasing the annual capacity of Dubai International Airport to 90 million passengers by 2020, almost double the current capacity. Dubai International is already the second-largest airport by international traffic, with almost 58 million passengers in the 12-month period ended in January 2013, according to Airports Council International—nearly six times its level in 1998. These expansion projects are trans-forming GCC airports into regional hubs and attracting international tourists. The millions of transit passengers who have layovers in Dubai, Jeddah, or Doha, for example, can be converted into tourists.

3. GCC countries had average GDP growth of 5.8 percent in 2012, a rate considerably higher than the U.S. or the European Union. Along with its highly developed infrastructure for meetings and conventions, this growth has put the region on the map of business travel.

4. Emerging appeal of the region’s cultural amenities. There is particularly strong potential for this in places like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman. These countries have been rehabilitating some of their ancient sites. Qatar and the UAE have also been investing to bring new works and exhibits to their museums and to become more competitive on the contemporary arts scene.

5. Long “weather window” for sun seeking tourists. The GCC has good weather for as many as nine months out of the year, including at times when nearby tourist destinations are “off season.” This should allow the GCC to take market share from sun and beach destinations.

6. Stability and reputation for safety. The order and stability of the GCC work to its advantage when tourists want to visit the Middle East. These are countries where security-conscious tourists can feel safe.

Sector Disadvantages

For the most part, GCC governments have not devoted much attention to their tourism sectors. The result is that their tourism sectors have three major disadvantages.

1) Limited variety of tourism products. GCC tourism products have three deficiencies. The first is their limited variety—that is, the tendency to focus on a single product. Saudi Arabia concentrates on religious tourism, Oman on its beaches, Bahrain and Qatar on their status as destinations for busi-ness travelers. Tourists either come to these countries for these reasons, or they simply do not come at all.

2) The second deficiency involves product quality. Despite the amount of shoreline that all of the countries have, the UAE’s beaches are the only ones with Blue Flag certifications (a voluntary program to designate water safety and environmentally sound practices). No other GCC country has even a single beach with a Blue Flag certification.

3) Other indications of undifferentiated product quality are the scarcity of World Heritage sites in the region—the median number of World Heritage sites in GCC countries is 1.5

4) Some 25 countries have 10 or more World Heritage Sites, whereas no GCC country has more than four. Even the region’s supposed attractiveness to business tourists is not as widely recognized as officials may think. For instance, the UAE and Qatar—two countries with reputations for being business-friendly—rank 49th and 74th, respectively, among 97 countries for the number of events in the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions (MICE) category, according to the International Congress and Convention Association.

THE PATH TO A STRONGER TOURISM INDUSTRY

(Suggestions & recommendations)

In countries where tourism has the most economic impact, tourism is integrated into the national development strategy and the long-term national vision. The “Tourism Strategy of Turkey – 2023” is an example of this, as is “Tourism 2020,” Australia’s long-term plan. As an interim step, countries often establish shorter-term strategic plans that lay out goals and set milestones. Examples include the three-year tourism plan in Estonia, the five-year plans in Abu Dhabi and the Philippines, and the seven-year plan in Scotland. As these countries improve the competitiveness of their tourism sectors, they will start to increase their tourism sectors’ revenues and economic impact.

The development of a national tour-ism sector strategy typically follows three critical steps

1) Define the Tourism Sector Ecosystem: To get an accurate picture of its tourism ecosystem, a country needs to know what it is doing—or not doing—with respect to each of the three parts that make up the ecosystem—products and services, sector enablers, and system enablers.

A country should start building this picture by taking inventory of all the tourism products and services it has to offer.

Tourism products and services cover eight basic components—including culture, sun and beach, nature, sports, and lodging/food. These components are composed of subcomponents—for instance, private museums and historic sites in the area of culture; cruises and waterfront activities in the area of sun and beaches; mountains and wildlife in the area of nature.

The ecosystem can be further defined by looking at the country’s tourism-sector enablers. In most countries, the sector enablers fall into five categories: planning, promotion, marketing, human capital development, and research and statistics. A central tourism planning entity (CTPE) typically oversees these activities, and acts as a catalyst for the diversification of the country’s tourism offerings and the increase in tourism-related investments.

The picture is completed by the system enablers, namely health and safety; security; environmental sustainability; and infrastructure. These are essential aspects of any country’s identity, and they can have a big impact (positive or negative) on the country’s appeal as a tourist destination.

In the next step, a country determines its primary geographic target markets. This usually starts by eliminating all the outbound tourist markets that are under a certain size and beyond a certain distance. After that, the country ranks the remaining markets, using characteristics such as the number of outbound tourists, expected future growth in outbound tourist numbers, and the average expenditure of tourists from the country. Finally, each target market is segmented by type of tourist.

For instance, the target market may contain travelers who are nature lovers, budget-conscious comfort seekers, or sports and fun enthusiasts.

CONCLUSION

The number of global tourist arrivals has more than trebled (3 times) in the last 30 years—and there is more growth ahead. Per capita incomes rising rapidly in many developing nations, tourists will increasingly come from new places. They want to visit different destinations, bringing a host of economic and social benefits to the countries able to attract them.

Tourism represents a particularly rich opportunity for the countries of the GCC, which have many assets they can use to attract global travelers—from modern airports to pleasant beaches, and cultural and archeological sites. As on today, however, most of these countries have not made tourism a priority (first importance.

Now is the right time to take advantage of substantial national investments in infrastructure and human capital to begin the transformation of the GCC’s tourism sectors.

Questions for creative thinking and discussion:

1) Assess the present conditions of GCC tourism.

2) What suggestions and recommendations can you make to make tourism a priority especially with reference to Oman?

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