Revival of charter operations on the Salalah sector is the sign of revival of international tourism in the Sultanate of Oman after almost two years of shutdown due to Covid-19 pandemic.
With the movement of tourists, the Governorate of Dhofar is expecting a positive winter tourism season which will continue till the end of April.
Marwan al Ghassani, Director of Tourism Promotion at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, called it revival of international tourism in the Sultanate of Oman, even as only one charter flight per week has been scheduled till now.
“If the situation remains normal as it is now, we may expect an increase in flights from December till the end of the season. We are expecting an increase in number of flights that may go up to three per week,” he said.
He said the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism was making continuous efforts to attract charter flights in coordination with tourism partners.
The season started with flights from Slovakia on October 16 when the first lot of 174 tourists arrived at Salalah Airport. Since then, one charter has been coming daily either from Slovakia or the Czech Republic. On Friday, the arrival of a charter from Poland with 250 tourists marked the country’s first charter of the season.
“The places of tourism attraction like Taqah, Mirbat, the archaeological sites registered in the World Heritage List (Al Baleed, Samharam, Al Shasr), the Museum of the Land of Frankincense and the historical forts in Taqah, Mirbat and Sadah, are ready to receive tourists,” said Al Ghassani. All Covid prevention protocols are in place keeping in mind the safety of tourists and the people of the country, he added.
Charters from Poland and France were the charters last seen in Salalah during the pre-pandemic days in February 2020. Pre-pandemic, Salalah had been receiving regular charters from Poland, France, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Italy.
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