To boost tourism, more flights to Saudi Arabia

Muscat: The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) opened the ‘Marhaba Oman’ event on Sunday under the patronage of Maitha Saif al Mahrouqi, Undersecretary for Tourism

The two-day event at Kempinski Hotel Muscat is bringing together tourism and travel sector operators from the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

“The aim is to attract major tourism companies in the Saudi market and create channels for communication to enhance areas of cooperation in the tourism sector, besides highlighting the national tourism strategy 2040,”

The event will include panel discussions and B2B meetings between the Omani and Saudi tourism companies to exchange expertise in the tourism sector. On the sidelines of the event, visit programs will be organized to the most prominent tourist sites and landmarks in the Sultanate of Oman to familiarize the Saudi tourism companies with the potentials and capabilities of the tourism sector.

Speaking in a panel discussion, Maitha Saif al Mahrouqi, said the number of flights between the Sultanate and Saudi Arabia will be increased to boost the movement of tourists and trade between the two countries.

She added that citizens from 103 countries are now allowed to enter Oman without securing a prior visa and can stay for up to 14 days. At the same time, citizens from 27 out of these 103 can enter Oman without a prior visa only if they have Schengen visa in their passport, or have entry visas to the USA, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, or Japan.

The 27 countries are India, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Armenia, Panama, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkmenistan, Honduras, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Laos, Albania, Bhutan, Peru, Salvador, Mexico, Vietnam, Cuba, and the Maldives.

Maitha said that Saudi Arabia is a promising tourism market for Omani companies in the sector and the ‘Marhaba Oman’ will help cement the close ties between the two brotherly countries.

She said that the focus is on the integration of the tourism sector between the Gulf countries, not competition. There is an agreement between the Sultanate of Oman and Saudi Arabia to attract new investments to the region’s markets.

The officials admitted that there has been a lack of promotion of Omani tourism in Saudi Arabia in the past, but a plan has been made to have more promotion programs to enhance the tourism movement.

The Omani Tourism Strategy 2040 focuses on promoting the Sultanate of Oman as a destination for adventure, relaxation, conferences, and exhibitions.

She said the sultanate has main airports Muscat, Salalah, Duqm, and Khasab are and there are plans to increase the number of tourist flights from Khasab.

“We seek to open more recreational tourism projects to attract family tourists from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries,” she said.