The Sultanate of Oman received around two million foreign visitors in the first six months of June this year, which is an increase of seven percent from last year.
The top five nationalities visiting the country this year were Emiratis (578,351), Indians (316,890), Yemenis (107,705), Germans (83,054), and British 49,069, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Overall four million visitors left the country in the first six months compared to 4.1 million during the same period in 2023.
The number of visitors to the country during June included 141,188 GCC nationals, 91,038, Asians, 16,520 Europeans, 5,582 Americans, 5,523 Africans, 41,281 other Arabs, and 1,090 from Oceania.
Omanis 2,808,582 topped the nationalities leaving the country in the first six months, followed by Indians (436,314), Pakistanis (261,086), Bangladeshi (144,287) and Yemenis (112,228).
As part of efforts to promote and ease services for tourists visiting Oman, nationals of 103 countries are exempted from entry visas for stays of up to 14 days.
The exemption will be subject to certain requirements including a prior and confirmed hotel booking, health insurance, and a return ticket.
However, citizens from 27 out of 103 countries are exempted from visas for 14 days to enter Oman only if they have a Schengen visa in their passports or have entry visas to the USA, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, or Japan.
The 27 countries are India, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Armenia, Panama, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkmenistan, Honduras, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Laos, Albania, Bhutan, Peru, Salvador, Mexico, Vietnam, Cuba, and Maldives.
The list of 103 countries (including 27 mentioned above)
Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China (includes Hong Kong and Macau), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Egypt, Finland, France, French Guinea, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Salvador, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Uruguay, United States, Uzbekistan, Vatican, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
