The number of travellers have risen exponentially in Oman with both inbound and outbound visitor figures witnessing a sharp rise.
The number of visitors to the sultanate jumped an astounding 959 per cent year on year, with 1.8mn arrivals registered till August 2022, according to National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) data.
In the first eight months of 2021, Oman recorded 170,000 visitors, while in the 12 months of 2021, 652,000 people visited, which is 63 per cent less than the figure this year till August. Outbound visitors too rose substantially from 825,000 in the first eight months of 2021 to 3.5mn in the same period of 2022 – an increase of 324 per cent.
According to the latest NCSI figures, GCC citizens were among the top nationalities that visited the sultanate till August, followed by Indian, Yemeni, Pakistani and British citizens.
While 1mn people from the GCC visited Oman till August, there were 200,000 Indian, 74,000 Yemeni, 47,000 Pakistani and 33,000 British visitors.
A comparison of figures of August 2021 and August 2022 shows a remarkable growth of visitors – 14 times or 1,288 per cent. A total of 25,321 visitors came to Oman in August 2021, compared to 351,555 in 2022.
Among the nationalities that visited in August 2022, GCC guests topped the list with 245,068, followed by Asians (56,695), Europeans (12,097), Africans (4,180), Americans (3,536) and Oceanians (562).
The total revenue of three- to five-star hotels rose 107 per cent, amounting to RO108mn till August 2022 from RO52mn in the same period of 2021.
The number of hotel guests increased 36.6 per cent to 1mn till August 2022 compared to 732,000 in the same period of 2021.
Source : Muscat Daily
