Muscat – The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) on Wednesday kickstarted a three-city roadshow in Saudi Arabia as part of its efforts to showcase the beauty of Oman. 

Marwan bin Abdul Hakim al Ghassani, Director of Promotion at the Directorate General of Heritage and Tourism in Dhofar governorate, said that the road show – which started in Riyadh – is heading to Dammam for a similar show on Thursday, followed by Jeddah on Friday. 

Around 15 Omani companies and 150 companies from Saudi Arabia, representing travel agencies and tour operators, are participating in the event.

The primary goal of this roadshow is to promote Oman, renowned for its diverse and picturesque landscape, as well as its unique tourist and historical sites. 

The focus is also on Oman’s khareef season, which offers a pleasant weather condition in the otherwise hot and arid region of the Middle East

Khareef season in Oman’s mountainous Dhofar region runs from June 21 to September 21 that attracts a huge lot of tourists from various parts of the region.  

Additionally, Ghassani said, the roadshow aims to promote the summer destinations such as Jabal Akhdar and Jabal Shams, characterised by moderate weather and abundant natural wonders for adventure tourism.

According to the ministry, Oman’s tourism sector experienced a significant growth during the last winter, with the number of tourists increasing by 177% in January. 

The sultanate hosted 295,279 tourists in January this year, compared to 106,598 in January last year. 

These figures, released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), also reveal a substantial increase in the number of guests staying in 3-5 star hotels, reaching 523,494 during the first quarter of 2023 – a growth of 25.8% compared to the same period last year.

Revenues of 3-5 star hotels witnessed a remarkable increase of 49.9% to reach RO73.3mn, while hotel occupancy recorded a growth of 54.5% on an year-on-year basis.