Muscat: Over 14,5 million passengers used four airports of the Sultanate by the end of December 2024 from 92,336 flights.

The Muscat International Airport handled 12,899,829 international and domestic passengers in 2024 from 96,116 flights and of these 11,861,213 were international travelers from 86,835 flights.

The increase in domestic passengers using the capital airport was 9.5 percent compared to a 1.5 percent surge in international passengers.

Salalah Airport handled 1,520,652 passengers from 10,455 flights including 650,698 international passengers.

Suhar Airport handled 66,717 passengers from 638 flights while Duqm airport handled 61, 137 passengers from 622 flights.

There was an increase of 2 percent in total arrivals through airports in 2024 compared to 2023.

It may be noted that 3.5 million visitors arrived in the Sultanate of Oman between January and November 2024. The number of guests in 3-5 star hotels increased by four percent, revenues of 3-5 star hotels by 5 percent, and occupancy rate of hotels (3-5) stars by 1.5 percent.

Around 1.1 billion tourists traveled internationally in the first nine months of 2024, as the global tourism sector recovered 98 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

According to the latest World Tourism Barometer by UN Tourism, a full recovery from the biggest crisis in the sector’s history is expected by the end of the year, despite economic, geopolitical and climate challenges.

Four years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought global tourism to a standstill, the Barometer reflects the sector’s remarkable recovery, with most regions already exceeding 2019 arrival numbers in the period January to September 2024. The report also shows outstanding results in terms of international tourism receipts, with most destinations with available data posting double-digit growth compared to 2019.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The strong growth seen in tourism receipts is excellent news for economies around the world. The fact that visitor spending is growing even stronger than arrivals has a direct impact on millions of jobs and small businesses and contributes decisively to the balance of payments and tax revenues of many economies.”

The fact that visitor spending is growing even stronger than arrivals has a direct impact on millions of jobs and small businesses and contributes decisively to the balance of payments and tax revenues of many economies Tourism performance by region

International tourist arrivals grew strongly in the first nine months of 2024, driven by strong post-pandemic demand in Europe and robust performance from large source markets globally, as well as the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific. Increased air connectivity and visa facilitation also supported international travel.

The Middle East (+29% compared to 2019) continued to enjoy record growth these nine months, while Europe (+1%) and Africa (+6%) also exceeded 2019 levels.

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