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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Hotel occupancy steady at over 50 per cent

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Muscat, Nov 22 - The occupancy rate in the hotels of Oman increased 0.7 per cent to 54.7 per cent in September 2017 from 54.3 per cent in September a year ago, said figures from National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). It may be noted that new two hotels, Sundus Rotana and Crowne Plaza Muscat (Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre) opened doors this month. The occupancy rate for August 2017 was 53.2 per cent and 42.5 per cent in July this year. The total occupancy in 2016 was 57.4 per cent with 1,597, 584 per cent this year.


Incidentally, there has been a drop in the number of guests in Oman’s hotels in October 2017 from the figures of September this year.


The number of guests in hotels dropped 2.4 per cent to 1,117,840 in September 2017 from 1,145,025 in September 2016.


The number of guests in the hotels in the past three months of 2017 was 123,283 in September, 129,543 in August and 106,136 in July.


In terms of demographics, for the first nine months of 2017, Europeans topped the list with 395,740 guests, an increase of 26.5 per cent, Omanis 316,914, down -18.1 per cent. The number of Asian guests dropped 9.7 per cent to 118,554 from 131,357 in September 2016.


The number of guests was consistently low in the summer months of 2017 starting from April (107,752), June (65,374) and July (106,136).


There has been an increase of 1.1 per cent in the stars 5-3 star hotels at the end of September compared to the same period.


Meanwhile, the BMI Research maintains a robust outlook for the Oman tourism industry in 2018 and over the next four years to 2021. The report added that the positive growth rates are in line with market performance.


“We highlight that Oman has one of the smallest tourism markets in the region yet holds significant growth potential, bolstered by rapidly rising tourist arrivals and further supported by strong investments in the sector. With strong government supported investment programmes and a high double-digit arrival growth rate, the country remains a lucrative investment destination for new hotels, integrated tourism complexes and commercial properties in the development pipeline,” the report said.


“We are forecasting growth of 12.7 per cent in terms of international arrivals to Oman in 2018, reaching a total of 3.7mn. By 2021, we expect annual arrivals to exceed 5.4mn.” Recently, Salim Aday al Mamari, director general of tourism promotion, said, “We do not have enough hotel rooms in the country and the issue of pricing is directly related to supply and demand. Room rates will be reduced if there is more supply in the market. The ministry is expecting a growth rate of nine to 10 per cent in 2018.”


Vinod Nair


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