Recently publicized statistics have shown that the total revenues of the operating hotels and other accommodation facilities in the Sultanate of Oman had increased from OR 42 million in 1997 to OR 43.2 million in 1998. These figures, appearing in Al-Bayan newspaper, represent an 8.2 percent rise. The number of nights spent by tourists in Oman hotels grew from 1.16 million to 1.39 million during the same period, constituting a 20 percent rise.
The number of available hotels in Oman had increased by 51 percent, jumping from 59 in 1997 to 89 in 1998. The number of hotel rooms rose by 7.16 percent in the same period, reaching a total of 4,057 in 1998. The number of guests staying in the various accommodation facilities had grown by 3.14 percent, with a total of 529,249 in 1998, compared to 463,150 in the previous year.
The Sultanate of Oman has been working hard on promoting its tourism sector since the mid-1980s, in an effort to diversify its income sources. The local government has made substantial investments to develop the necessary infrastructure for the tourism sector, which plays a key-role in the future economic development plan, Oman 2020. These investments essentially covered the transportation, telecommunication and public services. –(Albawaba-MEBG)
