This book explores the evolving landscape of sustainable and regenerative tourism in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain—in the post-COVID-19 era. Tourism is a vital and highly inclusive sector across the region, generating value not only within hospitality, transport, retail, and cultural industries, but also indirectly across sectors such as telecommunications and financial services. However, the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted tourism, with travel restrictions and lockdowns leading to a sharp decline in tourist arrivals and revenues.

As the sector rebounds, with tourist numbers surpassing pre-pandemic levels in recent years, new challenges have emerged, including over-tourism and its impact on local ecosystems and communities. These developments have intensified debates around the need for more sustainable and regenerative approaches to tourism, emphasising models that are less extractive and more responsive to environmental and social contexts.

Against this backdrop, the book provides a timely platform for examining current and future strategies for sustainable tourism development in the GCC. It brings together diverse perspectives to address how the region can balance growth with ecological preservation and community well-being.

Structured around three interconnected themes, policies, technologies, and practices, the volume offers a comprehensive framework for understanding tourism transformation. Policies provide strategic direction and regulatory context; technologies act as enablers of innovation and implementation; and practices reflect the lived experiences where these elements converge. By examining the dynamic interplay among these dimensions, the book delivers a holistic and forward-looking analysis of sustainable and regenerative tourism in the Gulf region.

Dr. Paolo Mura is a Professor in the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He holds a PhD in Tourism from the University of Otago, New Zealand. His research areas explore tourist experiences and behaviour, including gendered experiences and representations in tourism, travelling subcultures, expressions of art in tourism, and critical and qualitative approaches to research. He is the co-editor of a book series entitled Perspectives on Asian Tourism, published by Springer, and one of the managing editors of Tourism Management Perspectives. Dr. Paolo has authored 5 edited books and edited various special issues for journals (e.g., Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Tourism Recreation Research). 

Dr. Pralok Gupta is a Professor at the Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. He is also a Policy Leader Fellow of the European University Institute, Florence and a certified Fintech and Regulatory Innovation professional from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK. Dr. Gupta has a Ph.D. in Economics and Social Sciences from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore. Dr. Gupta has been actively engaged in policy-making by various governments on trade and macroeconomic issues. He is also an expert member of India’s delegation on services trade negotiations for various free trade agreements. Dr. Gupta has conducted a number of research studies on the tourism sector. Dr. Gupta is a prolific writer, and his articles on contemporary trade issues get published in international journals, books and business newspapers on a regular basis.

Dr. Paolo Mura is a Professor in the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He holds a PhD in Tourism from the University of Otago, New Zealand. His research areas explore tourist experiences and behaviour, including gendered experiences and representations in tourism, travelling subcultures, expressions of art in tourism, and critical and qualitative approaches to research. He is the co-editor of a book series entitled Perspectives on Asian Tourism, published by Springer, and one of the managing editors of Tourism Management Perspectives. Dr. Paolo has authored 5 edited books and edited various special issues for journals (e.g., Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Tourism Recreation Research). 

Dr. Pralok Gupta is a Professor at the Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. He is also a Policy Leader Fellow of the European University Institute, Florence and a certified Fintech and Regulatory Innovation professional from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK. Dr. Gupta has a Ph.D. in Economics and Social Sciences from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore. Dr. Gupta has been actively engaged in policy-making by various governments on trade and macroeconomic issues. He is also an expert member of India’s delegation on services trade negotiations for various free trade agreements. Dr. Gupta has conducted a number of research studies on the tourism sector. Dr. Gupta is a prolific writer, and his articles on contemporary trade issues get published in international journals, books and business newspapers on a regular basis.