| Kippreport.com

Oman tourism to rise 11pc in 2009

September 14, 2009 12:01 by kippreport

Oman tourism will expand by 11 percent in 2009, hitting the 2 million mark, thanks to GCC residents looking for cheap holiday options, reports Reuters, citing tourism officials.

“The global crisis has forced Gulf nationals to travel closer from home and Oman is hugely benefitting from it,” said Khalid Al-Ghassan, head of development at the Ministry of Tourism.

“For the first time in any year on record, we expect about two million tourists in 2009,” he added.

The number of GCC residents who visited Oman in the first half of 2009 rose 6 percent to 710,000 compared with the same period last year, Al-Ghassan added.

Tags: 2009, Oman, tourism