The total number of visitors to the Sultanate of Oman by the end of December 2021 reached 652,000, while the number of departures of both Omanis and expatriates touched 1,900,000 by the end of December 2021.

GCC visitors topped the list at 293,125, which was followed by 106,042 visitors from India, 41,923 visitors from Yemen, 19,326 visitors from Pakistan, and 18,173 visitors from Egypt.

The total revenues of hotels rated between 3- and 5-Stars amounted to RO102mn.

The number of guests in hotels has reached 1,200,000 until the end of December 2021, according to the latest data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The data further shows that the number of visitors coming to the Sultanate in December 2021 stood at about 180,000, comprising an increase of 384 per cent, when compared with 37,000 visitors during the same period in the previous year.

Furthermore, the number of visitors from the GCC in the month of December in 2021 peaked at 75,839, accounting for 42 per cent of the total visitors.

Meanwhile, Indian visitors constituted 12.7 per cent, Germans constituted 5.4 per cent, and Yemenis accounted for 4.8 per cent of the total visitors in December 2021.

The number of departures from Oman in December 2021 touched 336,000, comprising an increase of 245,000 departures compared to the same month in 2020.

Omani departures constituted 60.7 per cent of the total departures in December 2021, which was an increase of 161,000 compared to the same period in 2020.

The month also witnessed a rise in the revenues generated by 3- to 5-Star hotels in the Sultanate. It is understood that these hotels generated RO17.6mn in the month, marking an increase of 149 per cent to revenue of RO7mn generated in December of 2020.

A total of over 136,000 guests visited these hotels in the month, constituting a rise of 61.4 per cent over the 84,500 guests in hotels over the same period in 2020. This translated to an occupancy rate of 47.5 per cent when compared with 26.7 per cent in December 2020.