MUSCATDAILY.com produced on November 23rd, 2016, this article written by Maryam Khan on the occasion of the country’s National Day on how the Omanis preferring to explore Oman this holiday of 4 days, despite or because of their current difficult times, do manage to take advantage of the natural beautiful spots of their country.
The same media reported that Oman budget shortfall crossed the US$11 mark and spending declined 8% and that the Oman Government’s total income fell 26% as net oil revenue dropped 42% and gas revenue 6%, whilst the country’s daily average oil output rise was 2.8% and total oil exports during the January-October period increased 4.2% to 268.7mn barrels in 2016 from 257.9mn barrels in the same period of 2015. Meanwhile, the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) 30 climbs 0.5% on hopes of an OPEC oil deal at their forthcoming meet in Vienne by end of this month.
HOLIDAYMAKERS PREFERRING TO EXPLORE OMAN THIS HOLIDAY
Muscat – As the National Day holiday begins on Wednesday, most of the citizens and residents are gearing up to explore the sultanate over the long weekend.
Emran S, a resident in Muscat said, “We were planning to visit Musandam. However, the flights are full and the ferry service to Khasab has been called off due to inclement weather conditions. So we had to cancel the plan. Most of the hotels and resorts at popular tourist spots in Oman are almost booked. We will be considering some other options or else we might just find a nice place to camp and barbecue.”
As it’s just a four-day holiday, people prefer to stay in Oman and explore options. Some of the top travel options are Jebel Shams, Jebel Akhdar, Musandam and Salalah.
Ahmed Belushi, a citizen said, “We are planning to spend time at Sharqiyah Sands and camp under the stars. Hopefully, weather will be fine. There cannot be better way to celebrate Oman’s National Day than admiring its natural beauty.”
He added, “Such breaks are always welcome as they provide some respite from daily work. We’ll have more time to spend with our family and friends.”
Gurmeet Singh, another resident of Muscat said that he will visiting UAE to make the most of this short break. “We will be visiting UAE to spend time with my family members. We have got the visas. Short holidays are an opportunity to travel to a close-by place and reconnect with people you have been waiting to meet.”
Meanwhile, travel agents said that business is weak due to the present economic situation.
A leading travel agent said, “We are not busy this holiday as people aren’t spending much on travel. “We are getting queries for destinations like Sri Lanka, Thailand and Jordan, for which we have packages ranging from RO300 to RO360. We do not have a lot of bookings though.”
Riyaz Kuttery, chief operating officer of Mezoon Travel, said, “Many people are clubbing their annual holidays with the four-day break. Most of them are either travelling to the GCC countries or back to their home countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka etc.”
Another travel agent said, “Business is low as people are preferring to stay in Oman. Economic situation is tight so people are on a saving mode. They are not ready to splurge on a holiday.”
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