By Vinod Nair — MUSCAT: April 22 - Asia continues to be an untapped market to promote inbound tourism, as figures show foreign guests are still dominated by Arab and GCC nationals, but the new plans announced for e-visa recently may change the trend in the next few years. Based on the statistics provided by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) for the number of guests at three to four star hotels, there has been only an increase of 2.4 per cent in the number of guests from Asia (24,803), 1.7 per cent from Africa (1,372).
Topping the list at star hotels in the Sultanate are guests from the GCC (an increase of 34.8 per cent with 23,318 guests) and other Arab countries with (an increase of 30.7 per cent with 12,584 guests). “Based on Tanfeedh suggestions and inputs from several stakeholders, some progress has been made in this direction, but we need to wait till the new e-visa policy is implemented,” said a tour operator dealing with in-bound tourism. François Bouteiller, CEO, Salam Air, recently told the Observer that the airline is trying work on a solution with regards to simplifying visa formalities.
“It is very convenient and we are trying to be as convenient as much as possible for passengers. If we are providing services that are complicated that means we are not efficient,” he added. Officials of several leading airlines, including Oman Air, have said that e-visa should be launched in a big way. “With the new airport opening, we should look for offering short-stay tourist visas,” they said. “We are looking for Oman to offer simplified visas, especially for those travelling with groups or as a family,” a tour operator based in Nairobi told the Observer. The Ministry of Tourism has announced that it is working with the Royal Oman Police to allow three to five star hotels and tour operators process visas for people Russia, Iran and China.
Current while applying for e-visa the visitors from select countries need to provide information on hotel bookings among others. There has been a drop in the number of guests from the US (-8.1 per cent) and from Oceania (-18). Visitors coming from Europe has grown steady at 15.3 per cent with 118, 659 visitors. Figures updated till the end of February are compared for the same period a year ago. According to experts the key factors linked to getting more guests are air-connectivity, ease in getting visa and affordable accommodation. Despite their growing middle class population, the nationals from countries like China, India and South Africa are still excluded from the list.
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