MUSCAT: The volume of investment opportunities currently available in the tourism sector is close to $50 billion, Oman’s Minister of Tourism said.
His Excellency Salim Al Mahrouqi said that the tourism sector constituted 3.5% of the GDP, “but it declined due to the pandemic.”
Speaking in an interview with Al Arabiya TV, the Minister said the aim is to raise the percentage of GDP to 5% by 2030 and 10% by 2040. “But it all depends on the outputs of the tourism development,” Al Mahrouqi said.
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The Minister said the government is racing to save its tourism to benefit an industry badly damaged by the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic effects were profound on the tourism industry and all the sectors of the tourism sector were deeply affected. But we are at the beginning of a recovery phase where we are also trying to restore the traditional markets,” the Minister added.
According to a report issued on September 12 by the International Monetary Fund, Oman’s
economy is projected to grow by 2.5%, after a contraction of 2.8% in 2020, as the distribution of a Covid-19 vaccine helps domestic activity and external demand picks up.
The economic recovery will be led by 1.5% growth in non-oil activity this year, compared with a 3.9 per cent contraction in 2020, the IMF said.
“The Sultanate’s fiscal deficit is set to decrease to 2.4% of gross domestic product this year, from 19.3 per cent of GDP in 2020, and is expected to turn into a surplus in 2022,” IMF said in the report.
