Damages caused by cyclone Guno in Oman cost between 1.25 to 1.5 billion Omani riyals (US$3.25 to US$3.9 billion) according to initial estimates issued by the Omani national economy ministry.
According to the ministry, damages sustained by infrastructure alone could come up to one billion Omani Riyals (US$2.6 billion). An official source told the Omani News Agency (ONA) that the ministry is following the orders of Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed Of Oman and is doing its best to assist citizens and residents to overcome losses caused by the cyclone and to restore the infrastructure.
Meanwhile, an Omani official said the local tourism industry is fine and all tourist establishments are operational as normal. According to Mohammed bin Hamdan al Toobi, Under-Secretary of Tourism, in a meeting with the press Monday affirmed that tourism infrastructure has not been affected by tropical cyclone Gonu. "Post-cyclone tourism in Oman is healthy and going full-fledged. There wasn't any major damage to hotels or resorts during the cyclone, except few minor incidents that are being rectified and things are going back to normal in a quick pace.
"It's normal to have a low season at this time of the year, but I can assure you, the tourist activity in Oman hasn't been affected by the cyclone and we are comfortable with the way it's going," he said, according to Oman Obsever.
This statement came in response to fears that cyclone Gonu that struck the country earlier this month has seriously affected tourism in Oman. Some hotels, like The Chedi and InterContinental Muscat, had suffered some problems during the early days of the cyclone. But these problems have been dealt with and they are operational except for The Chedi, which is expected to reopen within 2 months.
