The hotel industry in the Sultanate of Oman is back on the track in the first five months of 2022 when revenues registered a massive 205 per cent rise in May thanks to the rise in the count of guests.
The monthly statistical bulletin of tourism indicators issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information reveals that the revenues reached RO 13 million in May 2022 from RO 4 million in the corresponding month in 2021.
Even as the hotel occupancy rate stood at 42.8 per cent of the capacity, the total number of guests reached 140,000 at a 105 per cent increase compared to 68,000 in the same month last year.
While the number of Omani guests formed the highest number of 63,500, visitors from the Asian countries took to the top slot with a total of 21,716, GCC citizens came at the second position with 19,380 followed by Europeans numbering 18,317 in May 2022.
The total revenues from three to five-star category hotels reached RO 73 million generated from 655,000 guests.
“The hospitality sector has been among the most affected industries since the Covid-19 pandemic merged worldwide. In Oman, the sector is on the path of recovery with a rise in the number of visitors arriving in the country”, said Fadi Abubaker, a marketing executive with an international hotel brand.
Gradual recovery of the hotel market in Muscat is forecast between 2021 and 2023, and the hotel market is expected to stabilise in 2024.
The Asian and European markets have once again started delivering a good number of international visitors to Oman as the government increases its marketing efforts in these countries.
While the number of visitors arriving in Oman reached 794,000 by the end of May this year the number of outbound visitors reached 1.5 million visitors during the period.
According to statistics provided by the state-run agency, the number of Omanis who went abroad during May 2022 reached 184,000 forming 61.5 per cent of a total of 217,250 outbound visitors.
The total number of inbound visitors increased by more than 35 times compared to the inbound visitors in May 2021, which amounted to 6,000 visitors. The percentage of Gulf visitors formed 54.5 per cent of the total visitors during May this year.
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