Muscat – Salalah Port will receive over 30 cruise ships by the end of this winter season, according to Ahmed Abdullah Shammas, head of Tourism Markets Department in Dhofar.

Shammas informed that the port has received two cruise liners so far. “On Tuesday, ‘Viking Mars’ arrived with 1,332 passengers, including 881 tourists. Earlier on October 21, the port received ‘Queen Elizabeth’ with 1,651 tourists.”

Shammas described Dhofar as one of the most important international destinations for tourists from around the world. “So the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism has been collaborating with relevant government and private sector entities and cruise operators to enhance cruise tourism in the sultanate.”

Meanwhile, the winter cruise tourism season (2022-2023) for Muscat began with the arrival of ‘Mein Schiff 6’ at Port Sultan Qaboos on October 28, brining more than 2,100 tourists to the city.

According to the ministry, 99 cruise ships visited the sultanate in the 2021/2022 season.

The sultanate recorded a 45 per cent increase in the number of cruise ship visitors from 193,000 in 2017/2018 to 283,000 in 2018/2019.