
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has made tourists from new markets want to visit the area. So, going into the New Year, it is fantastic to see that most travel restrictions have been removed globally. "Already, airlines are adding more routes and increasing their overall number of flights worldwide." Mohammed Al Ghufaili, Chief Operating Officer of Omran Group told the Times of Oman in an interview, speaking about what Omran Group had in store for 2023.
We take even further steps for the improvement of the tourism industry with the help of our administration, even inside the Oman border. For example, Oman has simplified the method of applying for a visa, and the residents of 103 countries and areas would no longer need an entry visa for up to 14 days.
The GCC residents can now enter Oman with a visa-on-arrival or a pre-arranged electronic visa, depending on their status as GCC residents. The change was made to enhance regional tourism.
Al Ghufaili said, "At Omran Group, we would like to add even more nature, history, sports, adventure, and cultural attractions to the Oman tourism portfolio in the coming year." We're putting a lot of money into building new attractions in strategic places nationwide, like the beautiful Musandam zipline. This unique project is part of a bigger plan, stretching 1,800 meters from the top of a mountain 250 meters above sea level down to the Atana Khasab resort. Once completed, tourists will have something to do that they cannot have anywhere else in the area. We are creating places such as the Sustainable City Yiti, Wadi Dayqah, and other well-known tourist spots.
"Omran promotes the country in source markets with the help of the relevant ministries, governorate offices, and our group company, Visit Oman," said the senior official.
The Visit Oman platform, which is now available at visitoman.om, has also been opened up to consumers from previously being a purely B2B platform, allowing it to serve as a one-stop shop for the visitor in all their needs related to tourism, from the very first planning and itinerary to booking flights and accommodations. The sudden surge of visitors to the site and our social media campaigns have helped identify new potential target markets that we can reach out to for the coming year. So, this is something we will consider doing.
Because of these things, I think we are going to have a great year. The tourism industry in 2023 could do much better compared to 2022 and even better than 2019.
Al Ghufaili reiterated that the tourism and hospitality industries in Oman would be in a better position owing to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
He said that, “We received a surge of visitors to Oman, the majority of whom came from within the region, source markets, and even further beyond.”
A project named "Oman World Cup Programme" was developed so that the participants may have a World Cup experience unequaled to any other. In addition to a series of promotional campaigns that ran parallel to the tournament, Hayya cardholders and their families could get a free 60-day multiple-entry visa, exclusive fast-track routes and gates at the airport, daily shuttle flights to Qatar, as well as several one-of-a-kind experiences and a wide range of transportation and accommodation offers.
The program was under the umbrella of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, which in turn worked closely with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth, the Royal Oman Police, Omran Group, Oman Air, and Oman Airports, among other public and government entities and private businesses.
Al Ghufaili also said the World Cup "brought a lot of interest from places that weren't usually source markets-like South America and Europe."
He added, "Interest was reflected in the reaction to the campaigns for the Oman World Cup Programme, which have been led by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism through the #OmanMatchReady and #HalfTimeForOman pre- and during-World Cup campaigns.
These actions have received unprecedented attention from all over the world, especially from countries like Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, and Serbia, whose impressions and clicks totaled more than 63 million.
These initiatives attracted unparalleled engagement from people worldwide, particularly from countries like Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, and Serbia; the total number of impressions and clicks generated by these users amounted to over 63 million.
"A significant positive impact was reflected in the occupancy and revenues of hotels in Muscat, particularly food and beverage and banqueting facilities, due to the many fan gatherings and festivals that occurred during the event in various hotspots within the capital city and also in the hotels themselves."
During the World Cup, the Football Fan Festival was held at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre. "This was a great example of what could be achieved with this festival," said Al Ghufaili. It was a truly world-class event, but unlike most other events in the area, it was designed from the start to be a family-friendly event with games, contests, unique digital experiences, entertainment, and food and drink for people of all ages to enjoy." It was a truly world-class event, but unlike most in the region, it was designed from the beginning to be kid- and family-friendly by including games, contests, and other activities.
The festival had six big screens where people could view the live broadcast of all 64 World Cup matches. For this reason, more than 92,000 fans from across the country, the region, and even further away visited the festival," he said.
Al Ghufaili said this about the performance of Omran hotels over the past few months: "Our group hotels have done well this year. At the end of this year's third quarter, occupancy and revenues have increased by 18% and 71%, respectively, compared to 2021."
To give a sense of perspective, the Khareef season in Dhofar and the #WithinOman campaign happen in July, August, and September. The #WithinOman campaign was meant to get more people to travel within Oman during summer and on holidays.
Consequently, our assets in the region rose by 127% in occupancy and 146% in revenue for the third quarter of this year as compared to the second quarter. Moreover, given that temperatures are normally lower in the capital in the fourth quarter of every year, our properties in Muscat often experience a jump in occupancy and increased revenues.
On the contrary, the General Manager at the Sheraton Oman Hotel, Samir Messaoudi, had this to say about the levels of occupancy during the FIFA World Cup: "We did not see a big difference in occupancy in November due to the World Cup."
People attending the World Cup rented out a few rooms, but it was insignificant. But right now, we're getting a good number of guests, and next year will be good for both our company and the hotel business.
Data from the National Center for Statistics and Information, or NCSI, shows that revenues at 3–5 star category hotels in the Sultanate of Oman reached more than OMR 161 million by the end of November 2022.
Statistics showed that the overall number of visitors who checked into the Sultanate's hotels with a rating category of three, four, and five stars reached, until the end of November 2022, about 1,449,511.
Our international leisure market drove our business indicators and figures for November 2022. However, no pick-up trends were seen surrounding the World Cup hoopla, said Nabil Al Zadjali, the General Manager of Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
There is no question that the 2022 World Cup has been the biggest event to take place in our region. The event brought a huge number of visitors to Qatar, as well as an audience overflow from the other GCC member states. Still, Oman did not secure a significant portion of this.
Undoubtedly, the World Cup in 2022 was the biggest event that took place in our region. The event brought a big flow of visitors to Qatar and an audience overflow from the other GCC member states. Still, Oman did not capture a major chunk of this.