Arabian Travel Market (ATM) taking place in April 2016 will showcase Oman’s most noteworthy tourism projects as it grows into one of the top destinations in the region.
Currently the country has $3.3bn worth of tourism related ongoing projects. Its inbound tourism numbers rise by an average of 7.4% per annum in the decade 2005-14, with 1.4 million international tourists’ arrivals targeted by 2019 compared to the 1.1 million that arrived in 2015.
Nadege Noblet-Segers, exhibition manager at ATM 2016 said: “Oman’s Tourism Strategy for 2015 through to 2040 has an investment value of $35bn.”
One of the major tourism projects have been the two major airports in Oman that are currently being expanded to boost tourism.
Recent figures from the Oman Airports Management Company for both Muscat and Salalah airports recorded an 18% rise in passenger numbers through the capital’s gateway in 2015, surpassing the 10 million passenger mark for the first time in its operational history, while Salalah Airport also saw a rise in traffic by 22% to reach more than one million passengers.
Consultants, Hill International, have been working on both airports since 2012, and aim to building the biggest (Muscat International) and second largest (Salalah) airports in the country.
Muscat Daily reports H.E. Dr Ahmed bin Mohammad bin Salim al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications (MoTC), said that work on the Muscat International Airport is 86% complete and will be done by end of 2016.