Oman recorded a total of 869,000 tourists in 2020, ranking 108th in the world in absolute terms.
That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Oman, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.19 tourists per resident, Oman ranked 92nd in the world. In Western Asia, it ranked 10th.
In 2020, Oman generated around 669.00 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.76 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 1 percent of all international tourism receipts in Western Asia.
The most popular city in Oman for international travelers is Muscat. In 2021, it reached the 99th place of the world's most popular cities.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 731 US dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of Oman spend only around 708 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
Development of the tourism sector in Oman from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Oman each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g., crew members of ships or flights are also not considered tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.
Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all 18 countries in Western Asia.
Revenues from tourism
In 1996, tourism revenues amounted to 193.00 million USD, or about 1.3 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 349,000 tourists at that time and roughly 553 USD per person. Within 24 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased drastically. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $3.08 billion billion, 3.5 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $878 on their vacation in Oman.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $3.08 billion billion (2019), only $669.00 million billion remained. This is a 78 percent decrease in Oman.
All data for Oman in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
869,000
669.00 m $
0.88 %
770 $
2019
3.51 m
3.08 bn $
3.5 %
878 $
2018
3.24 m
2.87 bn $
3.1 %
886 $
2017
3.18 m
2.63 bn $
3.3 %
827 $
2016
3.21 m
2.32 bn $
3.1 %
725 $
2015
2.63 m
2.25 bn $
2.9 %
853 $
2014
2.23 m
1.97 bn $
2.1 %
886 $
2013
1.92 m
1.89 bn $
2.1 %
982 $
2012
1.71 m
1.72 bn $
2.0 %
1,005 $
2011
1.39 m
1.52 bn $
2.0 %
1,088 $
2010
1.50 m
1.07 bn $
1.6 %
715 $
2009
1.58 m
1.09 bn $
2.3 %
689 $
2008
1.54 m
1.11 bn $
1.8 %
718 $
2007
1.36 m
905.00 m $
2.2 %
665 $
2006
1.39 m
749.00 m $
2.0 %
541 $
2005
1.10 m
627.00 m $
2.0 %
569 $
2004
1.41 m
601.00 m $
2.4 %
427 $
2003
1.21 m
546.00 m $
2.5 %
451 $
2002
1.11 m
539.00 m $
2.7 %
485 $
2001
1.10 m
538.00 m $
2.8 %
491 $
2000
571,000
377.00 m $
1.9 %
660 $
1999
503,000
350.00 m $
2.2 %
696 $
1998
424,000
338.00 m $
2.4 %
797 $
1997
376,000
192.00 m $
1.2 %
511 $
1996
349,000
193.00 m $
1.3 %
553 $
1995
279,000
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The World Tourism Organization additionally points out that in some countries, the number of tourists is only counted at airports, while in others they are also counted at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 731 US dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of Oman spend only around 708 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
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