Muscat: To attract tourists to the Sultanate, citizens of more than 100 countries will get visa-exemption soon, as per the mid-term fiscal plan for the year 2020-24.
The plan released on Sunday said, “This will encourage more tourists to visit Oman, enhance the tourism sector, and raise its contribution to the national economy.”
The government recognizes the need to strengthen the Sultanate’s revenue-raising framework by decreasing its reliance on hydrocarbon revenues. Initiatives related to increasing non-oil revenues will have an impact of almost RO 1.4 billion, the plan said.
Currently, only citizens of five GCC countries can enter without a visa while New Zealand nationals can spend up to three months in Oman and enter the country on a visa without paying any fee.
Nationals of 71 other countries and territories can apply for visas online provided they have a valid passport six months.
Oman will focus on tapping tourists from new source markets, including the USA, said the Implementation Support and Follow-up Unit in its annual report.
The initiative of targeting new tourism markets continues by opening up Marketing Based Representative (MBR) offices in China, Russia, and Iran, it added.
Over the last two years, considerable efforts were made to provide visa facilitation to these 3 markets. In May 2018, Royal Oman Police (ROP) announced the Chinese, Russian and Iranian nationals are eligible for visa on arrival.
Different types of E-visas available for tourists are single-entry 26A which allows visitors to stay in the country from a few hours to 10 days; single-entry 26-B for 30 days; and multiple-entry 36B for one year.
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