Arab News, Tuesday, Jul 16, 2024 | Muharram 10, 1445

Oman sees hotel revenue rise 10.2% thanks to European-led tourist surge

Oman:

European travelers to Oman helped fuel a 10.2 percent rise in hotel revenue in the first five months of 2024, official data has revealed.

Figures from the National Centre for Statistics and Information show that three to five-star facilities in the country pulled in over 108.3 million Omani rials ($281.5 million) over the period, compared to 98.3 million rials in 2023.

Revenue growth was fueled by a 13.7 percent surge in the total number of hotel guests, with 286,980 European visitors — a 19.6 percent increase over the first five months of 2023.

Simultaneously, the hotel occupancy rate rose by 6 percent to reach 51.5 percent, compared to 2023.

Oman’s substantial increase in European visitors and strong local and regional turnout mirrors the broader strategy of diversifying tourist demographics and bolstering the hospitality sector seen across the GCC.

Similar to Oman, Saudi Arabia has topped the UN Tourism’s ranking for the growth of international tourist arrivals in 2023 compared to 2019 among large destinations, achieving an increase of 56 percent over that tiem, according to the World Tourism Barometer report released in January.

The NCSI report provides a detailed breakdown of the nationalities among the hotel guests in Oman during the first five months of 2024..

Among them, 306,255 were Omani citizens, reflecting a substantial local turnout with an 11 percent surge.

The number of Gulf Cooperation Council citizens visiting the Sultanate also increased, reaching 58,572 guests, up 6.8 percent comparted to the same period in 2023.

Additional Arab tourists contributed to the growth, with 40,548 travelers, marking a modest but positive 13.2 percent increase.

Citizens from African countries demonstrated strong interest, with a rise of 1.6 percent, resulting in 4,677 visitors.

Guests from the US also significantly contributed to the tourism growth, with the number of travelers reaching 28,695.

Additionally, guests from Oceania countries totaled 13,446 visitors.

In addition, Oman’s airports handled more than 4.9 million passengers and 31,708 flights by the end of April.

Muscat International Airport saw 4.4 million passengers, a 16.8 percent increase, with 4.09 million international and 332,391 domestic passengers.

Indians topped the number of passengers through Muscat International Airport by the end of April, with 89,206 arrivals and 83,855 departures.

They were followed by Bangladeshi nationals with 12,829 incoming and 20,597 outgoing passengers, and Pakistani nationals with 21,191 arrivals and 19,532 departures.

Sohar Airport served 22,390 passengers on 192 flights, while Duqm Airport carried 20,106 passengers on 208 flights.