6.9 per cent rise in number of visitors to Khareef Salalah

Muscat: There was a 6.9 per cent increase in the number of visitors to Khareef Salalah in the eighth week (August 8 until August 15), compared to the same period last year.
The total number of tourists from 21st June to 15th August, 2017 reached 526,874, including 97,633 visitors during the eighth week (from August 9 to August 15), according to the latest statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The number of visitors to Khareef Salalah who came through land this year comprised 75.8 per cent of the total compared to 79.9 per cent during the same period last year.
Of the total visitors, the Omanis formed 76 per cent and non-Omanis 24 per cent, while those from all GCC countries reached 91 per cent.
The number of visitors from GCC countries reached 94,323 during the eight week, which comprised a 7.9 per cent increase compared to the same period of 2016. The number of the Asian visitors during the eighth week reached 1,667, comprising a decrease of 21 per cent compared to last year.
The visitors until the end of the eighth week who came by air increased 28.8 per cent this year to 23,608 compared to 20,154 in 2016.
The number of visitors from the European countries reached 2,254 compared to 1,586 last year, comprising a 42.1 per cent increase, while the number of visitors from other countries reached 1,400 this year compared to 1,009 in 2016, with an increase of 38.8 per cent, according to the NCSI data.