The Governorate of Dhofar geared up to receive tourists during the khareef season, which is characterised by tropical weather and moderate temperatures, making it a destination for visitors and tourists from inside and outside the Sultanate of Oman. The season officially starts on June 21 and continues until September 21.
As part of the preparations for the season, Oman Air, the national carrier, increased the number of weekly flights on the vital Muscat-Salalah-Muscat route to 112 scheduled weekly flights from June 23 to September 11, 2022.
Salalah Airport is one of the outstanding achievements of the Renaissance that contributed to the increase in tourism in the Governorate of Dhofar by opening direct local and international airlines during the khareef season, in addition to the Port of Salalah, which is one of the most important sea gates of Oman.
The accommodation sector in the governorate has witnessed a development in the past years, with an increase in the number of hotels, tourist resorts, commercial centres, parks and other recreational facilities. According to the statistics of 2019 by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, the number of visitors to Salalah during khareef amounted to about 766,772. Also, visitors' spending increased by 1.4 per cent, recording RO 78 million, compared to RO 76.9 million in the 2018 season.
For this year, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology said it is currently working on some maintenance projects including the maintenance of the public road from the entrance at Qairun Hariti to the Wilayat of Salalah, the installation of traffic and guidance regulations, painting, repair of asphalt potholes in various locations in Dhofar, and removing sand from the Haima-Thamrait highway, and the project to repair the damages on the Mirbat-Hasik-Shweimiya road due to the tropical depression of 2020.
The ministry is also implementing a project to maintain the asphalt road damaged by Cyclone Luban. It stated that it has a time plan for maintenance projects of asphalt and dirt road networks in mountainous and desert areas for five years (2021-2026).
Among the most prominent projects in preparation for khareef is Wadi Afoul Bridge project on Raysut-Al Mughsail-Afoul road in the Wilayat of Salalah, a ferry construction project in Wadi Adunab on the Raysut-Al Mughsail road, and slope stabilisation works on Argot-Sarfit road. Also, a tender has been issued for road in Maqshan, with a length of 165 km, to link the wilayat centre with areas of Marsoudd, Al Mashash, Mandar Al Dubayan and Al Manader.
The Dhofar Governorate Police Command is preparing for the Khareef tourism season with the support of various ROP formations, to achieve the highest levels of security and order in line with the nature of tourism activities in the governorate.
Brigadier General Salem bin Mohammad al Ghaithi, Dhofar Governorate Police Commander, said that the Police Command is keen to provide human and logistical support to the Dhofar Governorate Police Command with the aim of providing the best services and ensuring a police presence in all tourist sites in all states of the governorate. He added that the specialised committees of ROP held several meetings and carried out field visits to find out all the needs and requirements necessary to extend security services on the roads used by visitors to the Dhofar Governorate, as well as selecting suitable sites to establish security points to enable the policemen to provide various services to visitors.
Among the governorate's preparations for the tourist season, the Dhofar Governor's office held a meeting to determine the readiness of the concerned authorities to receive visitors and tourists from inside and outside the Sultanate of Oman. The meeting also discussed enhancing and raising the level of public services, roads, and readiness of the hotels and accommodation sector. The events and activities of the khareef season, organised by the Dhofar Municipality this year, will be held in various locations such as parks, gardens, and some natural and tourist sites.
The Directorate-General of Heritage and Tourism in the Governorate of Dhofar continues its efforts to make the season successful and advance and upgrade tourism services in cooperation with tourism partners from various governmental and private sectors.
On the business level, the Directorate-General of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion in the governorate has completed its readiness for the khareef season this year in cooperation with the governmental and private agencies. They all coordinated on matters related to the provision of goods and food services, enhanced bank services, enhanced fuel availability at petrol stations and improved services.
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