Muscat – In an effort to boost the tourism sector, the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism has unveiled ambitious plans to increase the number of tourists in 2024.
The sultanate is actively engaging with tourists through promotional campaigns and forming alliances with global travel firms. Simultaneously, it is streamlining travel for most tourists by offering a 14-day visa-free entry, a move that underscores Oman’s commitment to facilitating and fostering international tourism growth.
“To all partners in the tourism sector,” H E Salim Mohammed al Mahrouqi, Minister of Heritage and Tourism, posted on ‘X’ recently, “We will continue to work together to build a diversified sector whose impact extends to all governorates, while the year 2024 is a date with new projects and qualitative investment scopes. The priority will be to provide capabilities and activate a number of initiatives, including the Grand Tour of Oman and integrated attractive tourist destinations.”
According to an MHT official, the ambitious plans for 2024 include roadshows, workshops and international travel fairs.
The official informed that the ministry will organise roadshows in many countries, including the Nordic countries from April 16 to 18, Russia from June 3 to 5, and France from September 30 to October 1.
He added that roadshows will also be held in Saudi Arabia from September 22 to 26, in Germany, Italy and the UK from September 1 to 5, and India from October 14 to 18.
MHT will take part in international travel fairs such as ITB Berlin in Germany from March 5 to 7, the Seatrade Cruise Global conference in the US from April 8 to 11, Arabian Travel Market in the UAE from May 6 to 9, IMEX in Germany from May 14 to 16 and Seatrade Europe in Germany from September 11 to 12.
OTDYKH Leisure in Russia from September 17 to 19, Monaco Yacht Show from September 25 to 28, TTG Rimini in Italy from October 9 to 11, ITB Asia in Singapore from October 23 to 25, World Travel Market London from November 5 to 7 and International Luxury Travel Market in France from December 2 to 5 will also see MHT’s participation. Additionally, the ministry has invited international companies to establish its tourism representative offices in the UK, Ireland and Russia.
The ministry is working to increase the number of tourists to 11mn by the year 2040, marking a significant stride towards Oman Vision 2040.
MHT is implementing targeted strategies to boost tourism activities in the sultanate. The aim is to augment the tourism sector’s contribution to the GDP from a modest 2.4% in 2021 to an ambitious 5% by 2030, ultimately aiming for 10% by 2040.
The ministry has extended an invitation to all Omani tourism enterprises and establishments to register with Oman Tourism Hub via the link https://www. omantourismhub.com/ to participate in forthcoming events.
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