Visitors to Salalah soar 39.9%

MUSCAT: Number of visitors to Salalah until July 25, 2016 surged by a whopping 39.9 per cent compared with figures for the same period last year, according to statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics & Information (NCSI).

The total visitors rose to 215,128 as of July 18, from 153,780 visitors during the comparable period last year. NCSI statistics show that as many as 39,949 visitors reached Salalah by air as against 175,179 visitors who arrived by land. Giving a break-up of the number of visitors by air, the National Centre for Statistics & Information report said the majority of them, numbering 26,150 arrived on domestic flights while international carriers brought in 13,799 visitors.

Significantly, during the period, visitors from the Sultanate registered a significant growth of 53.2 per cent with their numbers reaching 142,258 compared with last year’s 92,877 inland visitors.

Khareef visitors from the GCC (including Oman) swelled in numbers by 47.9 per cent to touch 176,211 as against 119,150 visitors in 2015.