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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Oman - A unique destination that plays a strategic role

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Oman has been consistently ranked as a safe and investor-friendly destination for both tourists and businesses in 2019. The country has been also praised for its efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East. According to the World Bank, Oman is ranked 68 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business. The rank improved to 68 in 2019 from 78 in 2018. Ease of Doing Business in Oman averaged 62.25 from 2008 until 2019, reaching an all-time high of 78 in 2018 and a record low of 44 in 2012.


KEY POLITICAL ROLE


Oman is an important partner in fighting terrorism in the Middle East in particular and the world in general, said the annual report of the US State Department for 2018.


The report appreciates the Sultanate’s continuous efforts in its fight against terrorism. “This is evident from the level of security and stability in the Sultanate under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. No terrorist incident was reported during the year”, the report said. “The country worked effectively in 2018 to prevent terror attacks. It did not allow its space to be used by terrorists and continued to cooperate at regional and international levels”, the report said.


The Sultanate had issued a series of official statements that condemned terrorist attacks in the world in 2018, the report said.


COMPETITIVE INDEX


Oman improved his global rankings in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness to 58 out of 141 in 2019 from 65 out of 140 in 2015 and 66 out of 136 in 2016. On the scale of 1-7, Oman scores on three fronts — safety and security (6.5), business environment (5.3), health and hygiene (5.3), ICT readiness (5.3) and price competitiveness (5.7).


Listing out the best countries to visit in 2019, the WEF index Oman could be rated highly for its reliable police force (rank 5), low homicide rates (19) and low costs of terrorism (rank 7).


SAFE, FAST-GROWING


Oman is the MENA’s safest (rank third) country and also recorded the sub-region’s fastest improvement for its human resources and labour markets (from rank 103 to 65), and international openness (rank 116 to 97), environmental sustainability (109 to 57) and overall infrastructure (60 to 52).


OMANI PASSPORT


With Omani passport, citizens can visit 79 destinations with visa-free access while for 147 destinations they need a visa.


Omanis can travel without a visa to key Asian countries like Bangladesh, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Sri Lanka, UK, Kosovo, Serbia, Belarus, Albania, Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, New Zealand, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.


UNIQUE DESTINATION


Several foreign publications have praised the Sultanate as a tourist destination. Publications have highlighted the sand dunes, mountain ranges, and Omani cuisine.


The number of passengers travelling through airports in Oman (Muscat, Salalah, Sohar and Duqm) until the end of October 2019 reached 14.8 million passengers.


The total number of passengers at Muscat International Airport rose by 5.4 per cent to 13.38 million passengers at the end of October 2019, over the same period of the previous year.


The number of tourists coming to the sultanate has increased from 1.3 million in 2009 to 3.1 million in 2018, an increase of over 200 per cent.


The number of hotels in Oman increased from 224 in 2009 to 412 in 2018, offering nearly 22,000 hotel rooms to date.


GLOBAL RECOGNITION


At the World Travel Awards held in Muscat in December, companies from Oman bagged 16 prizes, including airlines and hotels, out of 144 which were distributed to more than 180 participating countries.


GLOBAL TRADE


The Sultanate was ranked first in the Middle East and 9th at the global level among 20 growing countries in terms of global trade, according to the Standard Chartered Trade 20 Index.


The report said that the Sultanate is on an upward trajectory and is advancing at a rapid pace, thanks to many regional trade agreements and liberal policies that succeeded in moving away from its reliance on oil.


Oman that figures among the top destinations in the world for expatriates scores heavily on serval subcategories of any leading international survey, especially safety, environment quality and ease of settling in.


EXPAT SATISFACTION


In the GCC, Oman is the second-best performer in overall expatriate satisfaction with 79 per cent after Bahrain (90 per cent). Oman scores (16) when it comes to the ease of settling in for the expatriates and personal finance (22) where it is almost on par with Bahrain (22). Oman is the GCC States’ standout performer for the environment quality, with more than eight in ten (81 per cent) rating the environmental quality well.


At 61 per cent of expatriates in Oman give the political stability the best possible rating, while almost 94 per cent of respondents attest to the peacefulness of the country.


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