(P)GCC to Up Spending on Travel Industry

Persian Gulf Arab states' capital investments in tourism infrastructure are expected to reach $56 billion by 2022, with the UAE ranked the most competitive in the region, driven by the development of multiple projects such as Hyperloop, according to a new research. Colliers International, a Canada-based global commercial real estate services organization, said lightening-speed, innovative Hyperloop train systems combined with the Haramain High Speed Railway, the development of airports in Saudi Arabia and airport expansion in the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait will help transform tourism infrastructure development in the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Hotelier Middle East reported. The research comes ahead of the Arabian Travel Market 2018 on April 22-25 where tourism infrastructure will feature heavily. Virgin Hyperloop One, a futuristic transportation concept through which pods, propelled by magnets and solar, will move passengers and cargo at speeds of 1,200 kilometers per hour, is the most prominent tourism infrastructure development in the UAE at present. It has the potential to transport approximately 3,400 people an hour, 128,000 people a day and 24 million people a year.