The number of tourists to Oman stood at 2,184,000 in 2013, and that there was a growth of six per cent in tourist numbers, said an official as Oman Tourism Forum kicked off yesterday at the German University of Technology?s Halbani campus. The day-long event saw presentations and forums moderated by representatives from public and private sectors. Amina al Balushi, Director of Statistics at the Ministry of Tourism, mentioned how the aim was to increase Oman?s GDP through tourism by three per cent but that currently, despite an increase in added value by this sector, it still produces a GDP growth less than that. The presence of the Oman Tourism College and a related department at Sultan Qaboos University are initiatives to bolster training of Omanis in this sector. Tourism strategy in Oman centres on its culture and privacy, she added.
Representing the National Centre for Statistics and Information was Narjis Saad Allah al Rawahi, a statistician. ?Demand is tourism and supply is services for tourists,? she said. In 2000, NCSI first began surveying tourism in Oman. Arrivals and departures of tourists were noted and their nationalities. Now the data is acquired on a monthly basis regarding the number of tourists who come to Oman. Monthly and quarterly surveys of hotels are also done whereby the former gets data on revenues and nationalities of visitors from four and five star hotels and later on all hotels. To add to the list, an annual economic survey involving hotels, restaurants and travel agencies is also executed. Speaking on the realities of tourism employment in Oman was Salim Naseer al Hadrami, Director-General of Development and Planning at the Ministry of Manpower.
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