Oman looks at lowering cover charge to lift tourism

Oman's ministry of tourism is trying to waive visas for short stays in the country and reduce prices of its tourist visas.

Oman's strategy is designed to attract visitors interested in cultural and natural tourism.

Oman's ministry of tourism is lobbying the government to waive visas for short trips to the country and reduce the costs of its regular tourist visas, says an executive from the department.

The price of tourism visas for travellers from outside the GCC was raised to 20 rials (Dh191) from 6 rials last October. Charges for GCC residents were increased to 5 rials from 2 rials.

"There will be very good news very soon about the visa prices, we are hoping," said Salim bin Adey al Mamari, the director general of tourism promotion at Oman's ministry of tourism.

"I think now we have to change the strategy. We're looking forward to reducing the price of the tourism visas and also we are trying to introduce a new system, like a 96-hour free visa [where] if you are coming to the country for four days, you can come without visas.

"It is under discussions, but we are hoping before [October] it will be introduced."

Mr al Mamari said the plan would have to meet the approval of various government authorities, including the ministry of finance. The changes would apply to all nationalities, he said, to try to develop tourism in the country.

"We're trying to make things easy," Mr al Mamari said.

Travel and tourism's contribution to Oman's GDP is expected to reach 743.3 million rials, or 3 per cent, this year, rising by 5.4 per cent a year to 1.25 billion rials in 2021, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

The industry is expected to directly employ 35,000 people this year, increasing to 50,000 jobs by 2021, the travel organisation said.

Oman's tourism strategy is designed to attract visitors interested in cultural and natural tourism, rather than appealing to the mass "sun, sea and sand" crowd.

Tour operators in Dubai said the cost of visas to Oman did put some customers off visiting.

The introduction of free entry "would really help [Oman]", said Haytham al Haj Ali, the managing director of Dubai Link.

Mr al Mamari said Oman was launching a television advertising campaign to step up its promotional efforts.

The tourism ministry had already decided to launch the campaign before political instability intensified in parts of the region.

Last year, 1.7 million tourists visited Oman. Many tourism developments are under way in the country, with more international hotel brands setting up.

The country is also working on its infrastructure.

"The state has stepped up its programme of developing airport and road links to more remote areas of the country," according to a report by the Oxford Business Group.

"It is providing financial incentives in the form of tax holidays for investors in the sector, and cheap land for locals in rural regions to use for tourism purposes."