International tourist arrivals increased in the Sultanate of Oman after travel restrictions were recently lifted. The rise in hotel occupancies stand testimony to this. Various hotels in the country reported an increase in the number of foreign visitors.
According to data from NCSI, January 2022 saw the arrival of over twenty-six thousand visitors from Europe, compared to just over 3,584 visitors in the corresponding month of 2021.
During the same period, visitors from Gulf countries accounted for 5,548 visitors in January, compared to just 1,497 in January 2021 – a growth of 270.6 percent.
Visitors to Oman increase as travel restrictions eased
All international borders to the Sultanate of Oman have been opened, with no travel restrictions in place for foreign visitors. However, travelers who are not vaccinated are required to show medical proof of reasons preventing vaccination. Foreigners are not allowed to enter the country without a valid medical exemption or a vaccination certificate.
Statistics for hotels in Oman also showed a massive increase in revenues of hotels in January 2022, as compared to the same period from the preceding year. Growth in 3- and 5-star hotels witnessed a growth of 91.6 percent, resulting in RO of 12.264 million, when compared to the same corresponding period of 2021.
For the corresponding period in January 2021, however, the number of Asian visitors dropped by 3.2 percent in January 2022.
Statista, providing statistics for hotel room revenue in the Sultanate of Oman, said that they expected an increase of over 33 percent due to the relaxation of restrictions that were imposed due to the pandemic.
Like many other countries in the world, the Sultanate of Oman was affected by the downturn in tourism caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, largely due to travel restrictions that were deemed necessary at the time.
In a separate report. Trading Economics has predicted that tourist arrivals in the Sultanate of Oman will increase steadily, expecting over 150,000 visitors in the first quarter of 2022 alone.
Trading economics has predicted that tourist arrivals will cross the 150,000 figure by the end of the first quarter of 2022. The global agency further predicted that total tourist arrivals in the country would touch the 250,000 mark by the end of 2022.
Guests from other nationalities saw a growth rate of 36.4 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2021.