48% surge in tourism in the Sultanate for first five months of 2019

Muscat: More than 1.4 million tourists visited the Sultanate until the end of May from January 2019, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

The Ministry revealed that the successful growth of the tourism sector has contributed to the country's strategic tourism goals.

"The total number of visitors to the Sultanate until the end of May 2019 reached 1.4 million visitors, and the number of visitors from cruise ships reached 187,000 visitors in the same period. Amounting to an increase of 48 per cent compared to the same period in 2018," the Ministry said.

Furthermore, the Ministry also revealed that by the end of 2018, the total number of hotel establishments had reached 412 with 22,182 rooms, which is a 12.3 per cent increase as compared to 2017.