The number of visitors to Salalah during the first four weeks of Khareef Season that began on 21 June saw a decline of 26.7% compared with the same period in 2016, according to statistics released by the (NCSI). As on 18th July, 101,516 visited Salalah. The total number of visitors fell to 41,152 in the fourth week compared to 55,612 during the same period last year.
NCSI statistics shows that while 55,612 people visited Salalah in the fourth week of the festival in 2016, it fell to 41,152 visitors this year. In the third week, the number of visitors was 21,110, according to the data. While visitors from GCC nations fell by 19.3%, that from Asia saw a decline of 31.4% and from other Arab countries fell to 4.1%. There was a 31.8% increase in the number of visitors from Europe and a growth of 22.1% in visitors from other countries. However, there was a combined 20.8% fall in visitors during the period, according to the data. There were 30,816 Omani visitors by the fourth week of the festival compared to 44,187 in 2016, a fall of 30,3%, while the number of visitors of other nationality was 10,336 compared to 11,425 in 2016, a 9.5% decline. Of the total number of visitors, 37 thousand and 078 were from GCC nations compared to 51 thousand and 045 in 2016. Visitors from Asian countries fell to 2 thousand and 544 compared to 2 thousand and 886 in 2016, while those from other Arab countries declined to 1 thousand and 182 against 1 thousand and 278 last year. There were 243 visitors from European countries compared to 256 in 2016 and 105 visitors from other nations compared to 146 last year, according to the NCSI data.
The Visitors Survey, which started on June 21st will continue till September 21st 2017. The survey is being carried out for the 14th successive year, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Royal Oman Police. The project aims at identifying the size of local and foreign tourism during the Khareef season and decide the growth trends during the past periods.
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