Muscat – With over 3,000km of pristine coastline, and three major tourism ports in Muscat, Salalah and Khasab, Oman has the potential to develop a thriving cruise tourism industry and attract substantial investment to the country.

Over 85,000 cruise tourists visited Oman in 2022, with that number expected to increase to 100,000 this year. In 2022, cruise passengers were received at Port Sultan Qaboos, Port of Salalah and Khasab Port aboard 77 cruises. This year, Omani ports are expected to receive 142 port calls.

An official at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) said the ministry is conducting a study with an international company on the readiness of Oman’s ports to receive more cruise ships and private yachts.

MHT has also formed a team to discuss challenges and prepare programmes that will see cruise ships and yachts making more trips to the sultanate.

In conjunction with MHT, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT) is planning to offer sites for investment along Oman’s pristine coast to promote yacht tourism in the country.

An official at MTCIT said, “The ministry will offer several sites to the private sector to invest along the Omani coast after determining the best places for berthing yachts and setting up allied services. The ministry also wants to establish a harbour in the wilayat of Sur, South Sharqiyah, with the aim of berthing yachts as well as maintaining small and medium sized ships.”

The latest Economic Impact Report by World Travel & Tourism Council revealed that the travel and tourism sector in the Middle East is expected to generate around 3.6mn new jobs over the next decade, while a Future Market Insights report indicated that the global cruise tourism industry is likely to grow to over US$17.4bn by 2032.

In the past few weeks, Port of Salalah saw a flurry of activity with thousands of passengers visiting Dhofar on board large cruise liners. According to MHT, Salalah port received six cruise ships and 13,178 passengers in April alone.

The tourists visited the popular markets and heritage sites in Dhofar.

Referring to the ministry’s efforts to support tourism, the MHT official said it seeks to attract more charter flights, raise occupancy rates of hotels in Dhofar and make the governorate a year-round destination.

According to the official, the plan in the next stage includes attracting charter flights to Sohar and Duqm. “These wilayats need to invest in tourist facilities overlooking the sea and establish hotels to boost tourism from charter flights.”

He added that the ministry has reopened all foreign tourism promotion offices that were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. MHT currently has ten tourism offices across Britain, France, Germany, Italy, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, China, and the Scandinavian countries.

“The ministry is currently promoting conference, adventure and wedding tourism in Asian markets to bolster the tourism sector in the sultanate.”