Muscat: The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) has signed an agreement with Resorts World Cruises of Singapore to operate trips and itineraries to the Sultanate of Oman during the upcoming winter season in cooperation with partners in the public and private sectors.
The agreement includes 46 visits to each of the Port Sultan Qaboos and 23 visits to the Khasab Port. The first visit will be on November 4 to Khasab and Muscat on November 5. The ship will have around 2,000 passengers on board.
MHT made this announcement during the recent Seatrade Cruise Med Exhibition in Malaga, Spain, where it took part in promotional efforts and interactions with 200 global cruise ship operating companies and decision-makers from over 70 countries.
The ministry has appointed a consulting company to prepare a plan to attract cruise ships and yachts of various sizes to the Sultanate of Oman.
Resorts World Cruises is a global brand with over 46 properties in eight countries and four continents.
Resorts World Cruises made its debut on June 15, 2022, with luxurious voyages aboard the 3,352-passenger, 150,695-gross-ton Genting Dream, operating from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang).
On March 10, 2023, the 1,856-passenger, 75,338-gross-ton Resorts World One began its sailings from Hong Kong.
Resorts World Cruises aims to explore new and exotic destinations in Asia, expanding to additional homeports such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the GCC.
The cruise ship season in the Sultanate of Oman is generally between October to the end of April, during which cruises visit the Port Sultan Qaboos, Salalah Port, and Khasab Port among others.
It may be noted that 321,012 tourists from 202 ship visits arrived at the ports of Muscat, Salalah, and Khasab in 2023, which is expected to cross 380,000 this year.
In the first phase of cruise season this year (between January and May), three ports received 102 ships and 206,544 passengers.
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