Online renewal of tourism licences, fines for delay

The Ministry of Tourism has said that all tourism licences have to be renewed on time and failure to do so will attract a fine of 5 per cent of the renewal fee per day

MUSCAT: Companies engaged in tourism in Oman need to renew their licences on time or be prepared to pay 5 per cent of their licence renewal fee as fine for every single day after a licence expires, the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) said on Wednesday.

However, companies will find it easier to renew their licences in time since it can be done online now, the ministry added.

“All tourism licences have to be renewed on time. Companies not renewing these on time will be fined 5 per cent of their licence renewal fee per day after the expiration date,” the ministry said in a statement.

Welcoming the move, a senior official from the hotel industry appreciated the facility to renew licences online.

“Earlier, we had to visit the ministry’s premises to renew our tourism licences. This will save a lot of time,” the official added.

The Ministry of Tourism grants licences to companies to carry out any tourism project. According to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), local tourism contributed 77 per cent to the total revenues generated by Oman’s tourism sector in 2015.

“That is the reason we need more hotels and more tourist designated areas to shore up our tourism sector,”said Vijay Handa, general manager at the Masirah Island Resort and the Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve.

The 9th Five Year Plan (20162020) accords great attention to the tourism sector, recognising the role it can play in attracting foreign investments and creating employment opportunities.

The NCSI data also pointed to the fact that the tourism sector’s contribution to the GDP in 2015 rose to reach 2.8 per cent, or about OMR748.6 million, compared to 2.2 per cent in 2014.

The tourism indicators bulletin referred to a rise in the number of hotels in Oman in 2015, reaching 318 hotels compared to 235 in 2011, an increase of 35 percent.

The total hotel revenues in the Sultanate reached OMR226.9 million in 2015 while revenues of 5-star hotels accounted for 44.2 per cent of the total revenue.