MUSCAT: There was a 4 per cent increase in the number of visitors to khareef Salalah in the ninth week compared to same period last year. The total number of visitors from June 21 to August 22 reached 575,478, according to the latest statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The total number of visitors registered a 50.2 per cent decrease to 44,822 visitors in the ninth week compared to the eighth week. The visitor numbers from GCC nations showed a 52.5 per cent decline to 44,822 in the ninth week compared to the previous week. From Asian countries. There was a 21.1 per cent increase in visitors from 1,667 last week to 2,018 visitors in the ninth week. From other Arab countries, there was a 10 per cent increase to 1,337 visitors in the ninth week compared to 1,216 visitors in the eighth week.
From European countries, the visitor numbers registered a 9.1 per cent increase in the ninth week to 289,265 in the eighth week while visitors from other countries registered a decline of 14.8 per cent to 138 in the ninth week compared to 162 in the eighth week. Of the total visitors, Omanis formed 75.6 per cent while those from all GCC countries reached 91.9 per cent.
The visitors to khareef Salalah who came through land this year comprises 71.2 per cent compared to last year. The number of domestic visitors this year constituted 74.5 per cent compared to 78 per cent during the same period last year.
The number of visitors from GCC countries reached 528,871 during the ninth week, which was a 0.9 per cent decrease compared to the same period of 2016. The number of Asian visitors during the ninth week reached 30.583, a decrease of 21.6 per cent compared to last year.
The number of visitors during the ninth week from Europe stood at 2,543, showing a 31.6 per cent increase compared to 1,933 visitors during the same period last year. Visitors from other countries during the eighth week stood at 1,182, a growth of 30.1 per cent compared to the same period last year. While there was a 42.1 per cent increase in the number of visitors who came through domestic flights in the ninth week at 102,676 compared to 72,259, visitors arriving through international flights registered a 15.2 per cent decrease to 32,593 compared to 38,428 visitors in 2016, according to the NCSI data. — ONA
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