Omani businesses angered as all visitors need to apply online for visa

The ending of visas on arrival in Oman will deter impulse travellers and slow up business, tourism and industry figures warned yesterday.

Oman said on Wednesday that travellers will have to apply in advance for a tourist visa online.

Tour operators, mainly reliant on UAE residents, said their business model would be hit by the new rules.

“People in the GCC countries come to talk business just for a day. It was easy for them just to get a visa at the airport,” said Suleiman Al Khalili, the chief executive of Muscat Real Estate Development Company.

“This will affect the way we do businesses with our partners in the region.”

Statistics from the Ministry of Tourism show that about 1.12 million people from the GCC countries travelled to Oman last year, about 6.5 per cent more than a year before, of which 723,472 were from the UAE.

“Over 40 per cent of our tourists from the UAE come for a day sightseeing. We have a sixhour trekking tour in Liwa or diving in Shinas and they arrive at Sohar Airport at 8am and leave 4pm back to catch their flight to the UAE, said Khamis Al Harrasy, the owner of Al Batnah Tours, based in Sohar.

Oman police insisted yesterday that the new measures were an improvement: “You can apply from anywhere in the world and receive the visa in five minutes.”

Visa applications can be made at evisa.rop.gov.om.