Oman tourism: Salalah Festival got half a million tourists last year

Muscat: Salalah Festival that concluded in October last year proved to be the biggest festival hosted by Oman in terms of visitors and money spent. According to the results of this festival’s 2015 edition published recently by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), a total of 514,777 people visited Dhofar for the celebrations, compared to around 431,000 in 2014, an increase of 19.4 per cent. Of the visitors, 73.4 per cent were Omanis, while those from other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries accounted for 15.8 per cent. A breakdown of visitors showed that 378,068 were Omanis; 81,299 were from other GCC countries; 41,127 Asians; 10,433 were from rest of the Arab countries; 2,253 were Europeans while the remaining 1,597 people were from a diverse group of nations. According to the NCSI, there were 5,000 visitors per day. A total of 83.9 per cent of visitors arrived in Salalah through the land borders, compared to 71.1 per cent in 2014. A total of 72,000 vehicles crossed the border into Dhofar. However, according to the NCSI, between 1 May to October 31, a total of 89 registered traffic accidents took place along the Nizwa-Salalah main highway, 79 per cent of them during the festival. According to the NCSI and the data obtained from the Royal Oman Police, 221 people were injured and 44 died. Spending contributed to the festival’s success as the visitors spent a total of OMR50.4 million (OMR50,421,425) during the season, compared to about OMR42 million in 2014. According to the NCSI, Kuwaitis spent the most and their expenditure averaged at OMR285 per person while Asians spent an average of OMR63 per person.