Muscat: Citizens and residents of the Sultanate of Oman have warmly welcomed the recent Royal Decree, issued by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, regarding the confirmation of official holidays for the state administrative apparatus, government and private sector establishments on religious and national occasions.
Following the announcement, a general mood of excitement prevailed with people relieved that they can prepare well in advance their itinerary for travel or staycation.
The first of the holidays will be in January 2023 when the Sultanate of Oman marks the third anniversary of His Majesty the Sultan’s ascension to power on January 11. As it falls on a Wednesday, a long weekend is unlikely but there are reasons for celebration as a few other holidays are expected to be long weekends.
With a holiday scheduled for Al Isra’a Wal Miraj on Rajab 27, it coincides with February 18 in 2023, which is a Saturday.
The decree stipulates that if any of the days of the weekly off coincides with the official holidays, it shall be compensated by one day. So, the first of the long weekend is set to come up in February.
The holidays for Eid Al Fitr will start from the 29th day of the holy month of Ramadan, which is likely to be April 20, a Thursday, to the third day of Shawwal/1444, which will be April 23, Sunday.
The Eid Al Adha holidays are expected to be another long weekend. According to the decree the holidays are from 9-12 Dhul Hijjah, which would mean that celebrations are likely to begin from June 27, Tuesday, till the end of the week.
The Hijra New Year that will be on 1 Muharram is likely to be 19 July next year, which is a Wednesday and the Prophet’s Birthday in 2023 will also fall on a Wednesday as it would be celebrated on September 27.
However, National Days holidays are due on November 18-19 providing another long weekend with November 18-19 being Saturday and Sunday.Though the decree states that the dates of the above-mentioned holidays may be amended if public interest so dictates, the fact that the holidays have been fixed has brought a lot of joy among the citizens and residents.
“We can now plan our holidays well in advance. It is a big, big relief, as in the past we had to wait till the last-minute to plan our trips. This led to unnecessary confusion and at times we had to fork out a lot of money for travel,” said Indu, a home-maker.
“This is a welcome move as it avoids lot of issues while making travel plans, in particular, when we have long weekends or Eid holidays,” said Tariq Husseini, a government employee.
A cross-section of expatriates and citizens, when asked about the Royal Decree on holidays were unanimous in saying that it is “a welcome move that brings relief and eases plans for holidays inside Oman or travel abroad.”
