Oman's national tourism strategy 2040 targets 6% rise in contribution to GDP

Muscat: Oman’s National Strategy for Tourism 2040, which targets a 6 per cent rise in the contribution of the tourism sector to the GDP, was announced by Minister of Tourism Ahmed bin Nasser Al Meherzi.
He explained that the strategy aims to increase the contribution of the private sector in tourism projects to 88 per cent, and government investments by 12 per cent, which includes infrastructure projects.
The Minister said in an interview with Economic Forum Programme broadcast by the Radio of the Sultanate of Oman that it is hoped that as per the strategy, 20,000 hotel room level will be reached in 2020 compared to the existing 16,000 level.
He pointed out that the mission and vision of the Ministry of Tourism has been drafted, taken into account to be consistent with the mission and vision of the tourism sector, as expressed in the Omani Tourism Strategy, and compatible well with the mission and vision of the government.
He added that the vision says that the Sultanate will be in 2040 one of the most important tourist destinations, visited by tourists to spend holidays and explore the country.
Ahmed bin Nasser Al Meherzi, Minister of Tourism, said “until we get to what we want, we should focus on the appropriate amount of investment, support the growth of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises, and apply a typical global system of social responsibility to attract, offer an extraordinary range of tourist models, enhance the quality of services and attract more tourists.
More than 2.6 million visitors arrived in the Sultanate last year, according to the Tourism Report 2015 published by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
GCC nationals topped the numbers at 1.06 million, while Indians came second at 299,661, followed by the British (150,902), and Germans (106,269).
Meanwhile more than 5.4 million went abroad as outbound tourists last year.
Cruise ship visitors to the Sultanate in 2015 reached 148,000, consisting of 40,225 visitors from Germany, 13,849 from Italy, 9,688 from the UK, 8,578 from the Czech Republic, and 8,517 from the British Virgin Islands.
Guests in Oman’s 3-5 star hotels numbered 1.2 million last year, with revenues totalling OMR192.1 million.