Tourism is picking up in the Sultanate of Oman with positive endorsement from charter and cruise travellers.
Close on heels of charters arriving in Salalah for winter tourism, the first cruise ship has called at a port in the country after a gap of two years. A cruise carrying 2,100 tourists from different countries arrived at Khasab Port on Wednesday.
The Mein Schiff 6 of the TUI Cruises company was received at Khasab Port amid fanfare yet under strict Covid-19 protocols, as all the visiting tourists had a prerequisite of getting both doses of vaccination before boarding the ship. Other protocols like social distancing and avoidance of gatherings would be in place at all the places.
It is a coincidence that the tourists have arrived in the country during the National Day week. The Sultanate of Oman is observing its 51st National Day and the tourists have much more to experience
in the country than on normal days.
The tourists, tour operators and officials of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism were excited to be at the port to see a new beginning and resumption of tourism that was stuck for about two years due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism is in coordination with all the relevant authorities to take care of the implementation of precautionary measures to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
“There has been a cautious approach to revive tourism without taking any chance with the pandemic’’, said a tour operator involved in cruise tourism in the Sultanate of Oman.
winter season
The country attracts a large number of tourists during the winter season, and luxury cruises are one of the most important carriers of tourism in the country. The 2018-19 cruise season, which was the last tourism season before the pandemic, saw a 45 per cent increase in the number of visitors through cruises with 283,000 visitors, compared to 193,000 in the 2017-18 season.
