Oman tourism: Half a million tourists visit Salalah until mid-August

Muscat: More than half a million people visited Salalah between June 21 and August 13, government data reveals.
According to the National Centre of Statistics and Information, 519,616 people visited Salalah.
From the end of July until the beginning of September, Salalah and surrounding areas witness the best period, clothed in lush greenery and the hills surrounded by white fog.
Many visitors frequent the region during this time, especially from within Oman and the neighbouring countries. Salalah Tourism Festival takes place from July 15 to August 31 every year.
Confirming the numbers, hoteliers in Salalah said they were lucky to have an advanced Khareef (monsoon) season this year, resulting in the increased number of visitors.
Rush of visitors
“Usually, rain starts in Salalah only during the first week of July. However, this year, rains began on June 21 itself. From mid-June itself, we had started receiving visitors, mainly from neighbouring GCC countries. We were prepared, and were all set to handle the rush of visitors,” Rejin Thomas, director of sales at Crowne Plaza, said.
“There is always a drizzle happening. New waterfalls are spotted. Salalah has become a dream destination for all,” Rejin added.
Last week, due to high demand of visitors headed to or coming back from Salalah, Oman Air operated an extra Muscat-Salalah-Muscat flight.
Oman Air has substantially boosted its services to Salalah over the summer months, in response to customer demand.
The airline is expanding the capacity of its flights to the principal city of the Governorate of Dhofar in Southern Oman by an additional 23,000 seats, compared with the previous year.
Oman Air offers a total of 317,600 seats to and from Salalah.
The increased capacity has been enabled by an increase in flight frequencies between Salalah and Muscat, and between Salalah and Dubai. Eleven flights per day are now operating between Salalah and Muscat.
According to Oman Air, if demand rises, the airline will consider further increasing the number of flights operated and the number of seats offered.
A travel agent in Oman also confirmed that this year, they witnessed a 20 per cent increase in business to Salalah.
“Locally, we got 20 per cent increase in business to Salalah, compared to previous year, thanks to the pleasant climate,” Raji Demonte, general manager of Universal Travels, said.