Wednesday 12 / February / 2025
Salalah: The number of visitors to the Dhofar Khareef from June 21 to September 21, 2024, reached about 1,048,000, an increase of 962,000 visitors, representing a 9 percent rise compared to the same period in 2023.
Data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information showed that the number of Omani visitors increased by 70.1 percent, recording 734,588 visitors compared to the same period in 2023, when they reached 676,009, while the number of visitors from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries increased by 16.9 percent, recording 176,643 visitors, compared to 161,472 visitors during the same period in 2023.
The number of visitors from other Arab countries also increased by 3.6 percent, recording 37,790 visitors, compared to the same period in 2023, when it was 35,095 visitors.
Statistics showed that the number of visitors to Dhofar Khareef from Asian countries increased by 8.3 percent, reaching about 86,678 visitors, compared to the same period in 2023, which was 78,401 visitors.
The number of visitors coming from European countries also increased by 0.5 percent, reaching about 7,992 visitors, compared to 7,433 visitors recorded in 2023.
The number of visitors from other countries during 2024 reached 4,060, an increase of 0.3 percent over the year 2023, when it was 3,008 visitors.
The number of visitors to the Dhofar Khareef during June 21 to September 21, 2024 via the land port amounted to 794,596 visitors, compared to 722,795 in 2023, while the number of arrivals via flights during the past season amounted to 253,155 visitors, compared to those arriving in the 2023 season, whose number amounted to 239,401 visitors.
Statistics indicated that the number of international flights during June 21 to September 21, 2024 amounted to 103,073, while the number of domestic flights amounted to 150,082 flights.
During the past two years, Dhofar Governorate has witnessed the development and opening of a number of tourism projects with cooperation from the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, Dhofar Municipality and Omran Group.
These projects included the Darbat and Hamrir views, the Al Mughsayl waterfront, the development of Ain Jarziz, in addition to two tourism projects in the Wilayat of Mirbat, namely the Al Dammar viewpoint and the Aghabeer breather in its first phase, in addition to the development of the Shaat viewpoint in the Wilayat of Rakhyut.
During the Dhofar Autumn Season, the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism implemented a number of programmes that contributed to promoting the Dhofar Autumn Tourism Season 2024 by advertising on billboards in the Sultanate of Oman and a number of GCC countries, and hosting influencers and content creators from inside and outside the Sultanate of Oman, with the aim of covering various tourist events and sites.
It also implemented promotional campaigns for the season through the ministry’s social media accounts, announcing the Dhofar Autumn Season through external media channels, and sponsoring events in Dhofar Governorate during the season, in addition to implementing familiarisation trips for tourism offices and companies and media delegations from outside the Sultanate of Oman and implementing the “Marhaba Dhofar” event for 50 tourism and travel offices and the participation of 16 media professionals, with a total of 65 people from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism stressed that this promotion is an important factor that contributes to attracting tourists from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and various countries of the world and to learn more about the distinctive tourist places and exceptional atmosphere that characterise Dhofar Governorate compared to the rest of the countries of the region.
The ministry explained that the tourism representation offices in both Dubai and Riyadh played a prominent role in increasing the number of flights to Salalah during the past season.
