Friday 02 / May / 2025
Muscat: More than 70 cruise ships are expected to visit Khasab port during the winter season of 2019-2020.
The port of Khasab received 134,404 tourists during the winter season last year and these tourists came onboard 63 cruise ships.
Raed Al Shehhi, head of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry branch in Musandam Governorate, speaking to Times of Oman said, "We expect more than 70 cruise ships from the largest cruise companies in the world, carrying tourists from different countries, to visit the port of Khasab in the winter tourist season of 2019/2020, with the first ship scheduled to arrive on 26 October 2019. The last tourists of the season will arrive on April 16, 2020."
Al Shihhi added: "For the second year in a row, the Musandam Chamber will set up the Musandam Chamber Tourist station at the port after its success last year. We work in coordination with Khasab Port, Royal Oman Police, Tourism Department, Ministry of Manpower, Khasab Municipality and others to organise the port work in a civilized manner and solve many negative phenomena such as hidden trade and unlicensed employment in the tourism sector, which targets tourists coming through cruise ships to Khasab port."
He explained that this mechanism ensures the sale of tourist programs at uniform prices and the distribution of tourists fairly to all tourism companies affiliated to the branch, which contributes to enhance the capacity of companies, increases their revenue, and helps to achieve financial sustainability of companies and improve the quality of tourism products."
"The station also provides added value to the domestic industries and handicrafts and national products through a range of free kiosks for Omani vendors who sell household products and crafts and souvenirs," Al Shihi added.
Marafi is making great efforts to market Khasab port globally to attract more ships. In 2019, for the first time in the port's history, there was a summer season for cruise ships coming from the Indian subcontinent.
On the infrastructure side, work is underway to prepare the master plan for the development of the port and a special berth will be added to accommodate transcontinental cruise ships. The authority will also be asked to add a group of floating docks with a separate entrance beside the new tourist pier to be allocated to tourist boats that make tourist trips in the marshes of the province.
