The number of people arriving in Oman has shot up by more than 400 percent in February 2022 compared to the same month a year ago.

122,000 people came to Oman in February 2022 compared to just 23,000 in 2021, reflecting a 432.4 percent increase in arrivals to the country, according to figures published by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). In both January and February put together, some 230,000 people came to Oman while 606,000 left the country.

Nationals of the other five Gulf Cooperation Council countries (UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain) accounted for 45,148 people (36.9 percent) entering Oman, while Indian nationals accounted for 12.7 percent of the arrivals. Citizens of France (4.2 percent) and Britain (four percent) also formed a portion of the incoming people.

In February, 305,000 people left Oman with Omani nationals accounting for 61.7 percent of all people departing the country. The number of people departing from Oman in February 2022 rose by 198,000 individuals, compared to the same month in 2021.

More people arriving into the country also meant a direct positive impact on revenue earned by hotels this year: Hotels rated three-to-five stars earned OMR16 million in February 2022 compared to OMR7 million in February 2021, pointing to an increase of over 125.09 percent in earnings.

Furthermore, 162,000 guests stayed in these hotels in the second month of 2022, compared to 90,000 for the same period last year. As a consequence, the occupancy rate rose in these hotels to 52.5 percent, up from 39.1 percent in February 2021.