MUSCAT: The National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) has issued a monthly report on tourism indicators for February 2022 which revealed that at least 230,000 individuals have visited the Sultanate. The data also revealed that approximately 606,000 visitors have departed from Oman until the end of February 2022.

The statistics indicated that Oman recorded an increase in the number of visitors in February 2022 by 432.4% which is 122,000 visitors, compared to same period in 2021 which was 23,000 visitors.

The report indicated that the highest number of visitors were from the Gulf countries which stood at 45,148 visitors (36.9%); followed by Indians who accounted for 12.7% of total visitors; French travellers were the third highest visitors accounting for 4.2%; while the British came fourth in the list at 4% of the total visitors in February 2022.

The data mentioned that 305,000 visitors left the Sultanate of Oman in February, with Omanis accounting for 61.7 percent of the total outbound visitors. The increase in the number of visitors departing from the Sultanate of Oman in February was about 198 thousand compared to the same period in 2021 While the increase in the number of departing Omanis amounted to about 149,000 visitors during February 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.

The data shows that three-starred to four-starred hotels recorded a revenue of OMR 16 million in February 2022, an increase of 135.9%, compared to OMR 7 million during the same period in 2021.

At least 162,000 guests were recorded as staying at these hotels in February 2022, compared to 90,000 guests during the same period in 2021 — this shows an increase of 79.1%. The occupancy rate in these hotels was 52.5%, compared to 39.1% in the same month of 2021, achieving an increase of 34.4%.