Muscat, Dec 15 - The number of Omanis working in the hotel industry was 5,754, which amounted to 30.9 per cent of the total workers employed in 2018. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information, the number of Omanis working in the sector, however, has increased by 43.9 per cent from the previous year. At the same time, the number of expatriate workers working in the hospitality sector is 12,873 or 69.1 per cent of the total number of employees. The annual growth rate of employees in this activity during the past five years is 14.7 per cent, the report said.
The number of employees in the hotel industry rose by 32.6 per cent to 18,627 in 2018 compared to 14,050 in 2017, of which 6,949 are in hotels in Muscat and 2,317 in Dhofar.
“Despite the decrease in the percentage of Omanis working in two-star hotels by 10 per cent in 2018, their percentage witnessed growth in ‘other’ category hotels by 130 per cent, 11.8 per cent in four-star hotels and 10 per cent in hotels. The growth in the number of non-Omani employees in other hotel categories increased by 103.2 per cent in 2018.
In 2018, the total number of hotels reached 412, including 23 five-star hotels, 19 four-star hotels, 29 three-star hotels, 54 two-star hotels, and 287 units classified as other, including one-star hotels, unclassified hotels, guesthouses and hotel apartments.
Since 2014, the number of five-star hotels increased from 12 to 23, while the number of four-star hotels dropped from 23 to 19, the number of three-star hotels grew from 28 to 29 and the number of two-star hotels dropped from 58 to 54, while other accommodations increased from 165 to 287.
“These numbers represent a move towards greater diversification in the hotel sector,” the report said.
Of the 412 hotels in the Sultanate, 155 were in Muscat, 52 in South Al Sharqiyah, 41 in Al Dakhiliyah, 34 in Dhofar, 30 in North Al Batinah, 28 in Al Buraimi, 27 in North Al Sharqiyah, 13 in Al Wusta, 9 in Musandam and 7 in Al Dhahirah.
The number of hotel guests reached 3.6 million in 2018 compared to 3.3 million in 2017.
Muscat accounted for 56.1 per cent of the total guests. Omanis topped the list of guests with 38.2 per cent, followed by Europeans with 25.8 per cent and Asian guests with 17.1 per cent.
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