The growth trajectory of the tourism sector in the Sultanate of Oman is steadily rising, thanks to the promotional programs initiated by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, boosting travel to Oman from various parts of the world. We emphasize that Oman has not yet been fully discovered from a tourism perspective.
Therefore, developing plans and programs targeting this sector, especially in terms of providing more hotel rooms in various provinces, will yield greater returns in the coming years. We must increase the number of accommodation rooms to over 33,000, as we may face a shortage during peak tourist seasons, especially in Muscat, Dhofar, Musandam, Jebel Akhdar, Jebel Shams, North Al Sharqiyah, and South Al Sharqiyah. These destinations experience high demand, requiring the provision of more rooms until the room rates, currently considered expensive, decrease.
The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, along with partner entities in this sector, is working on extensive programs for events and global tourism promotion. Today, we are striving, for example, to activate conference and exhibition tourism, wedding tourism, sports tourism, and other events that necessitate the availability of more rooms in the coming years. Investment in this aspect should progress hand in hand with the growth witnessed in this sector.
The challenge of rising room prices, coupled with the insufficient availability of rooms, could pose a future challenge. Consequently, as stakeholders in the sector, we must attract investments to establish more hotels of various categories to enhance tourism and economic growth and activate our aspirations over the next years.