Oman to assess tourist characteristics in year-long survey

Muscat: The project of the survey of arrivals and departures for the year 2018 will be launched on Thursday by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and the Royal Oman Police.
It will be concluded on January 31, 2019.
Dr. Khalifa bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al Barwani, Chief Executive Officer of the NCSI said that the centre has started implementation of the project of a survey of arrivals and departures for the year 2018. This is part of the government’s plan to collect data from the vital sectors to support the future growth of the national economy.
The government is working for diversification of the sources of income to minimise dependence on oil. The tourism sector is one of the most important sources of income, which is being paid full attention by the government.
The CEO of the centre also said that the aim of this important survey was in line with the government’s efforts to develop tourism sector by providing related necessary data.
He said that through this project, the total number of Omani and resident tourists coming from their trips abroad back to the Sultanate will be estimated and their demographic, economic characteristics and nature of the trip will be assessed. The total number of tourists who visited the Sultanate and their demographic, economic data and characteristics will also be assessed.
He pointed out that the data of this project will help in understanding ground reality of the tourism sector in the Sultanate. It would help in developing appropriate plans and identify the challenges being faced by this sector.
The collection of the data of arrivals and departures will be done by a sample survey of Omanis and expatriates who come from a foreign trip back to the Sultanate and a sample of tourists who are departing after visiting the Sultanate during different months of the year through Muscat International Airport and Salalah Airport or five important land borders, namely Al Wajajah, Wadi al Jizi, Hafeet, navigation sinus, as circuit would be assessed, said Al Barwani.
Al Barwani said that the field researchers, who were trained and prepared for a workshop, would work at a rate of seven hours per day, which are mentioned in field visits schedule. They would collect data on the vehicles crossing the land borders for going abroad or coming inside the country. Similar work they would do at the Muscat International Airport and Salalah Airport. For this survey, they would use their tablets.