Shafaqna English- The Persian Gulf Cooperation Council Statistics Center reported: “The added value of the travel and tourism sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of these countries reached about 247.1 billion dollars by the end of 2024, an increase of 31.9 percent compared to 2019.”
According to Shafaqna Persian, quoting Anadolu, the center, in a report titled “Tourism in Persian Gulf Cooperation Council: A Gateway to Sustainable Development and Transformation”, explained: “It is expected that this sector’s share will increase to 13.3 percent of GDP, equivalent to 371.2 billion dollars, by 2034.”
This report, published on the occasion of World Tourism Day, which is held annually on September 27, shows that the tourism sector has become a main driver of creating direct and indirect jobs.
According to the data, the added value of employment in 2024 will reach almost 4.3 billion dollars, showing a 24.9 percent increase compared to 2019, and it is expected that by 2034 nearly 1.3 million new jobs will be created.
The report also emphasizes that tourism has become a platform for empowering youth and women, as the percentage of female workers reached 13 percent of the total workforce and achieved a growth rate of 73.2 percent since 2019.
It also pointed to the significant development of ecotourism in the Persian Gulf Arab countries, as the percentage of natural protected areas (land and marine) increased to 19 percent of the total area by the end of 2023, showing a 7.5 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Source: Shafaqna Persian