The GCC economies are expected to get $15 billion a year from Metaverse by 2030.

According to the latest report by Strategy& Middle East, which is part of the PwC network, the metaverse could add about $15 billion to the economies of the GCC every year by 2030. Of that amount, Saudi Arabia would get $7.6 billion and the UAE would get $3.3 billion.

Even though the metaverse is still being built, things change quickly. Organizations in the GCC should move quickly and take advantage of the chance.

Tony G. Karam, Partner at Strategy& Middle East, said, "Overall, we think the metaverse will add $15 billion a year to GCC economies by 2030. The projections looked at growth in the technologies, platforms, hardware, and software that make up the metaverse, as well as the economic impact of new applications like creating content, shopping, and so on.

The metaverse is beautiful because it is neither a place nor a piece of technology. Instead, it is the latest step in the development of the human-computer interface. It is meant to create a seamless, pervasive, immersive, touchable, simulated experience that is so close to reality that it could be mistaken for the real thing. For example, you can go to a virtual construction site and see how buildings will look before a single shovel is put into the ground.

Dubai's metaverse strategy was made public in July 2022, with the goal of making the emirate a leader in the metaverse economy. The plan is meant to add $4 billion to the economy and create 40,000 new jobs over the next five years. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has set up the first metaverse incubator 8 in the Middle East. This will help develop early-stage metaverse and Web3 apps.

Saudi Arabia's $500 billion city on the Red Sea is called NEOM. The metaverse is used to help build it and give architects, engineers, designers, and others a way to work together and make it their own. The digital branch of NEOM has made a metaverse that lets people be in both the real world and the virtual world at the same time, as an avatar or hologram.

Dany Karam, Partner at Strategy& Middle East, said, "The metaverse has a lot of possibilities that go beyond next-generation games and shopping or buying a house on the internet. It will change how we work, do business, plan, design, build, shop, have fun, travel, and live. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the metaverse has a huge amount of potential to energize and change key sectors.

The report says that travel and tourism, which could make an estimated US$3.2 billion from the metaverse, is the sector that could benefit the most economically.

"There could be metaverse tours of AIUla, Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, fashion festivals, spas, wellness retreats, and entertainment and sports events," said Jad N. Baroudi, Principal, Strategy& Middle East. Visits to the Metaverse would make people want to go on trips. Later, travelers could use the metaverse to go back and relive what they had done.

The metaverse will bring the most money to Saudi Arabia ($7.6 billion), followed by the UAE ($3.3 billion), Qatar ($1.6 billion), Kuwait ($1 billion), Oman ($0.8 billion), and Bahrain ($0.4 billion).