Muscat: Port Sultan Qaboos today received the Italian cruise ship “AIDAcosma” with 5,800 tourists onboard from various nationalities.
Khalid Mohammed Al Azri, Director of Tourism Patterns at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism said that receiving cruise ships in Oman’s ports consolidates the country’s position as a leading unique destination in the region.
Al Azri pointed out that “AIDAcosma” is visiting the region for the first time.
He added that during the current season, Port Sultan Qaboos, Salalah Port and Khassab Port are expected to receive 200 ships coming from all over the world.
Moreover, the tourist programme of “AIDAcosma” included tours to major archeological, tourism and historic landmarks in the Governorate of Muscat.
With the start of the season of receiving cruise ships in the Sultanate of Oman and within the framework of the efforts made by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism and in cooperation with the relevant authorities to return the tourism movement and consolidate the position of the Sultanate of Oman as a leading and distinguished destination for the ship tourism sector in the region, Sultan Qaboos Port received the cruise ship AIDAcosma, which is visiting the region for the first time, carrying more than 5,800 tourists from different countries of the world.
In light of the increasing demand from international companies to come to the Sultanate of Oman, it is expected that Omani ports will receive during this season more than 200 trips of various cruise ships and yachts from around the world to Sultan Qaboos Port, Khasab Port and Salalah Port.
The tourism of cruise ships and luxury yachts is one of the types of attractive tourism because of the importance of this sector in promoting the Sultanate of Oman as one of the prominent destinations regionally and globally by attracting international companies that manage international ships to dock in the various ports of the Sultanate.
This category of tourists contributes to organising trips and tourism programmes for different destinations, thus maximising the benefit of the local community by contributing to providing a number of job opportunities.