Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman was the seventh fastest-growing destination (post-Covid) for international arrivals in 2022.
Austria, UAE, Dominican Republic, Andorra, Netherlands, and Qatar were the top six countries.
The report by Skift Research tracked 84 travel indicators across 22 countries with data from 22 partners. The first time that the global travel rebound surpassed 2019 levels was in April 2023.
In exactly three years after its lowest point in April 2020, the industry underwent a stunning swing back. 17 out of 22 countries tracked by the Travel Health Index are part of the '100 Club' with an index score of 100 or higher as of June 2023.
This indicates complete recovery to pre-pandemic performance levels. Of the five countries that have not reached full travel recovery, Hong Kong and Russia remain the slowest to bounce back.
While international travel in most regions still lags behind 2019 levels, the Middle East is the only region to witness a complete recovery of international travel in the first quarter of 2023.
As the pandemic has been left behind in many ways, there are some habits that have not reverted back to pre-pandemic levels, such as travellers opting for flexible booking to avoid cancellation costs and 55 per cent of travellers buying insurance to face any adverse situations.
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