MUSCAT, Sept 7 - The Sultanate is ranked 58 among 140 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2019 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index released last week. As per the report, Oman improved its global rankings in the Travel and 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 impressively 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 said Oman could be rated highly for its reliable police force (rank 5), low homicide rates (19) and low risk of terrorism (rank 7). “The surest way for a country to benefit from its tourist industry, it explains, is to invest in infrastructure which keeps the needs of the local population as well as visitors in mind.” Oman is the MENA’s safest (third rank) country, and also recorded the sub-region’s fastest improvement in human resources and labour markets (from rank 103 to 65), and international openness (116 to 97), environmental sustainability (109 to 57) and infrastructure (60 to 52).
From tourism projects, infrastructure development to sustainable development, the Ministry of Tourism is making remarkable efforts to up the country’s development in the tourism sector. In view of this, the ministry has formulated the Oman Tourism Strategy 2040 to accelerate the pace of tourism and cultural development through utilisation of these resources.
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