Muscat – With the National Day holiday announced, travel agents are reporting a rush of enquiries for travel in and outside Oman. However, the trend this year seems to be making the most of the holiday destinations within Oman, or flying to places which don’t require prior visa arrangements.

According to travel operators, some of the best options to travel during the upcoming National Day holiday within the country are Nizwa, Jabal Akhdar, Sur, Masirah Islands, Jabal Shams and Ras al Jinz.

Aslam Saleem, Assistant Manager – Holidays at Majan International Agencies Travel and Tourism, is confident of a good response from both Omanis and expatriates for inbound tourism.

“During short holidays, people rush to nearby places for a quick break and spend some quality time with their family. This time, most of the movement within Oman is for Nizwa, Jabal Akhdar and Jabal Shams. We have also made a good number bookings for desert adventures and camping. A lot of people are also travelling to Sur and Ras al Jinz. People are also looking for options like Al Ashkhara and Masirah.”

Following the lifting of restrictions after two years, leisure tourism is picking up rapidly in Oman. “Also, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is here. So we have many enquiries for Qatar too,” Faiyaz Khan, general manager of Travel Point, informed.

He added, “We have several queries for both inbound and outbound trips for the National Day holiday. People were eagerly waiting for the dates to be announced and are now making bookings.”

Often last minute travel plans are made for such short holidays, noted Rashid Fazal, Holiday In-charge at Akbar Travels. “That is why people prefer destinations that provide visa on arrival. And so Thailand is among the top choices for our customers. Other favourites are Georgia and Azerbaijan.”

He added that locally, holidaymakers are interested in desert safaris and destinations like Wadi Shaab and Jabal Sifah. “Apart from expatriates, we are also seeing good response for local tours from European tourists who are already in Oman.”

Besides the popular inbound destinations, there are many who are opting for staycations. To cash in on the holiday mood, many hotels have staycation offers. Mohammad Ali Khoshbakht, manager of Al Rafa Travel and Tourism, said, “There are many Omani families who prefer to spend leisure time in hotels with no adventure or travelling involved. We have booked suites and apartments in destinations like Jabal Shams, Sohar, Sur and Ras al Jinz for such holidayers.”