There were 674 hotels in the country at the end of December 2022, which employed 20,294 people, including 6,642 Omanis and 13,652 expatriates.
Five-star hotels employed 2,015 Omanis and 3,354 expatriates, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The total number of hotels in the country increased to 674 in 2022 from 612 in 2023 and 548 in 2020. Of these, 27 were five stars, 32 were four stars, 61 were three stars, 66 were two stars, and 488 were in the others category.
Muscat has the maximum number of 14 five-star hotels, followed by eight in Dhofar.
As for occupancy rates, Muscat reported 34.9 per cent, compared to Dhofar at 45.5 per cent, Musandam at 22.8, Al Batinah North at 42.7 per cent, Al Batinah South at 42.2 per cent, and Al Wusta at 52.4 per cent.
Five-star hotels had an occupancy rate of 34.9 per cent, compared to that of four stars with 49.8 per cent and three stars with 42.5 per cent.
According to the Director of the Oman Vision 2040 Office at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MoHT), the number of hotel rooms in the country at the end of Q1 2023 was 30,559 rooms, which will go up to 33,000 by 2025.
The government has been focusing on investments in integrated tourism complexes, which have been estimated at RO1.5 billion for the period 2021-2025.
Oman is expected to receive 3.5 million international tourists in 2023 compared to 2.9 million in 2022, a report by BMI, an entity affiliated with international rating agency Fitch said on Sunday.
The average annual growth of the number of tourists arriving in Oman over the medium term (2023-2027) is expected to reach 7.4 per cent, as demand for leisure and commercial tourism continues to drive recovery amidst high oil prices that boost domestic investments.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
