Saturday 05 / September / 2026
Muscat; Data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information showed a decline in the number of guests in 3- to 5-star hotels in the Sultanate of Oman by 11.9 percent until the end of July 2026, reaching 1,154,436 guests, compared to 1,309,792 guests during the same period in 2025, a decrease of 155,356 guests.
Revenues of classified hotels up to the end of July 2026 amounted to approximately OMR138.306 million , compared to OMR156.36 million during the same period of 2025, registering a decline of 11.4 percent.
The average occupancy rate in classified hotels reached 45.8 percent by the end of July 2026, compared to 52.9 percent during the same period in 2025, a decrease of 7.1 percentage points.
The data showed an increase in the number of Omani guests by 2.8 percent, reaching 482,031 guests by the end of July 2026, compared to 468,854 guests during the same period in 2025, constituting about 41.8 percent of the total guests of classified hotels.
The number of Asian guests also increased by 1.3 percent, reaching 189,579 guests, compared to 187,143 guests during the same period in 2025.
Conversely, European guests saw a 30.4 percent decrease, reaching 257,921 guests, compared to 370,590 guests by the end of July 2025. Despite this decline, Europeans remained the largest category of non-Omani guests in classified hotels.
The number of guests coming from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries also declined by 19.1 percent, reaching 89,345 guests, compared to 110,501 guests during the same period in 2025.
The number of guests from other Arab nationalities decreased by 11.3 percent, reaching 50,093 guests, compared to 56,474 guests, while the number of American guests recorded a decline of 22.8 percent, reaching 33,524 guests, compared to 43,413 guests during the same period last year.
Guests from Oceania experienced the largest decline among all categories, with a 57 percent drop, from 27,050 guests at the end of July 2025 to 11,626 guests at the end of July 2026. African guests also decreased by 5.8 percent, reaching 8,289 guests, compared to 8,803 guests during the same period in 2025.
On a monthly basis, data for July 2026 showed a remarkable improvement in the activity of classified hotels compared to June 2026. The number of guests during July reached 162,427, an increase of 20.2 percent compared to 135,080 guests in June, while the number of guests in May reached 154,380 guests.
Hotel revenues rose during July 2026 to OMR14.13 million, compared to OMR10.773 million in June 2026, recording a monthly growth of 31.2 percent. Revenues for May 2026 amounted to OMR13.927 million .
Occupancy rates also increased during July 2026 to 42.6 percent, compared to 35.9 percent in June and 38.7 percent in May, an increase of 6.7 percentage points compared to June, reflecting an improvement in occupancy rates and hotel activity during the past month of July.
