MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman witnessed a surge in the number of international hotel guests at the end of March 2023 compared to the same period last year.
While the number of Omani guests in hotels dropped 1.5 per cent to 181,300 guests at the end of March of this year from 184,000 during the same period a year ago, the number of European guests increased 41.8 per cent to 169,300 from 119,400.
The Asian guests surged 53.4 per cent to 64,600 from 42,100, Gulf nationals increased by 30.9 per cent to 33,000 from 25,200, and other Arab guests increased by 38.1 per cent to 21,600 from 15,600 guests.
The number of American guests increased by 6.4 per cent to 17,000 from 16,000, and guests from the African continent by 43.5 per cent to 2,800 from 2,000.
It may be noted that revenues of three to five-star rated hotels increased 49.9 per cent to RO 73.2 million at the end of last March, compared to the same period last year, which was RO 48.9 million.
According to the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total number of guests in three to five-star hotels in the Sultanate of Oman increased by 25.6 per cent to 522,700 guests, from 416,200 guests in the same period of the year. The occupancy rate in hotels increased by 17.5 per cent to 56.4 per cent, compared to 48 per cent in the same period in 2022.
A total of 159,424 pipeline rooms are currently under contract in the Gulf at present, of which 100,071 hotel rooms are in Saudi Arabia, Dubai (27,095 rooms), Qatar (17,145), Oman (10,292), Bahrain (3,452), Kuwait (1,369), according to data released by STR Global.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “This region is undoubtedly a global hotspot for industry investment right now.”
The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MoHT) said that 127 new hotel establishments are being established at an investment cost exceeding RO 340 million.
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