"We have raised it (the visa issue) to the highest level and it is under way. Hopefully, we will have positive feedback," a senior official at the UAE's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has said.
The plans have been under discussion for almost four years, media reports said.
"It will happen for sure before the next season. So it should be done by September this year," Hamad Mohamed bin Mejren, DTCM's executive director for business tourism, told Gulf News.
Mejren said that the visa process will be eased for cruise passengers and the region's travel and tourism industry is pushing the federal authorities to introduce it as quickly as possible.
Asked if it would be a single visa for all the GCC countries, he said that is what they are hoping for. "That's what we have conveyed (to the authorities) we want and that's what we hope will happen," he told the newspaper.
According to the report the visa will enable visitors to tour all six GCC countries, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
