Oman Reports Tourist-Visa Arrivals Up 6.9% in Seven Months Even as Total Visitors Edge Down

Oman recorded 1.308 million arrivals on tourist visas in the first seven months of 2026, up 6.9 per cent from 1.224 million a year earlier, according to figures from the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism reported by Muscat Daily on 28 September. Total arrivals for January to July reached 2.152 million, a marginal decline of 0.56 per cent from 2.164 million in the same period of 2025.

What the Numbers Show

The report said tourist-visa holders made up 60.7 per cent of all arrivals, an increase of about 84,000 visitors on the previous year. Visitors from other Gulf Cooperation Council states accounted for 36.5 per cent of arrivals but fell 7.1 per cent, while cruise passengers, 2.8 per cent of the total, dropped 38 per cent, according to the ministry data cited by the newspaper.

Azzan bin Qassim Al Busaidi, the ministry’s Undersecretary for Tourism, described the roughly 7 per cent growth in tourist-visa arrivals as a positive indicator of the effectiveness of the country’s promotional efforts, the newspaper reported. The source did not provide hotel occupancy figures or a breakdown of tourist-visa arrivals by nationality.

A Shifting Visitor Mix

The figures point to a changing composition of demand. Growth in visitors who need a tourist visa, typically travelling from outside the Gulf, offset lower numbers from regional visitors and cruise ships, leaving the headline total almost unchanged. The ministry’s own framing treats the visa-holder segment as the clearest sign that marketing is working, though the data covers only seven months and does not by itself explain the drivers behind each movement.

Why It Matters

Oman has positioned tourism as a pillar of economic diversification beyond hydrocarbons, and the type of visitor it attracts matters for revenue. Travellers on tourist visas tend to stay longer and spend more on accommodation, tours and local services than short-trip regional visitors or cruise passengers, so a rise in this group can support hotels and small operators even when the overall count is flat. At the same time, the dip in GCC arrivals shows how dependent the sector remains on neighbouring markets. Officials will want to see whether the autumn and winter high season extends the gain in long-haul visitors and stabilises regional demand.