People in Oman throng malls, parks, beaches during Eid holiday

Muscat: Eid Al Adha celebrations are in full swing with huge crowds of nationals and residents visiting malls, new attractions, parks, beaches and restaurants.
Tourists from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries also joined the celebrations to take advantage of shopping deals, dining options and checking out the rainy season in Salalah.
The Ministry of Tourism revealed that the number of visitors to Dhofar until September 13 stood at 644,667, up from 511,198 during the same period last year, reflecting 26 per cent jump. “Omanis made up for 70 per cent of this year’s tourists,” the ministry said.
Besides Salalah, thousands of visitors visited the Al Hoota Cave after they were re-opened this month.
People turned up in huge numbers without pre-booked tickets as a result they were turned away. “The caves were fully booked for the entire weekend,” said a traveller who visited the cave this week.
The Ministry of Tourism said Tiwi had drawn more than 5,000 people since start of the Eid holiday.
“There were 873 visitors, who came to Nizwa fort, 815 came to Dibba port and 48 visited Khasab fort,” the Ministry of Tourism said.
Besides all these, 3,720 visitors came to the Wadi Bani Khalid on Tuesday, which included 238 Omanis, 15 Bahrainis, 99 Arabs and 3,312 Asians and 56 Europeans.
On Monday, 1,817 visitors visited Wadi Bani Khalid, which included 264 Omanis, five Kuwaitis, 51 Arabs, 1,299 Asians and 128 Europeans.
Wadi Bani Khalid is located about 220 kilometres from Muscat and is the best-known wadi in the Sharqiyah region. Its a perennial stream.
Large pools of water and boulders are scattered along the course of the wadi.
The 200 metre-long bridge, which links the two suburbs of Sur—the Al Ayjah village (an ancient coastal village) and Al Batah village—also drew a large number of visitors from all over Oman.
The bridge has reduced the distance between Al Ayjah village and the town of Sur.
Meanwhile, more than 5,000 animals were slaughtered in Muscat during the Eid Al Adha celebrations, the Muscat Municipality reported.
Around 3,150 cattle were sacrificed in the capital’s slaughterhouses on September 12, the first day of Eid, including around 3,000 sheep, 121 cows and a camel, the Muscat Municipality reported.
Fewer animals were slaughtered on the second day of the festival of sacrifice.
The municipality announced that the slaughtering of 2,053 cattle took place on Tuesday. Of the total number, 2,021 sheep, 31 cows and a camel were slaughtered.