The bulletin by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) in its introduction states that despite instability in some regions the Middle East saw a four per cent rise in visitors in 2014 attracting 2mn additional travellers taking the total visitors to 50mn.

However the share of the tourism sector in Oman's GDP diminished to 2.2 per cent in 2014 from 2.3 per cent in 2005 it states.

The number of tourists visiting the sultanate has grown by around 40 per cent every half decade. The total stood at 1.1mn in 2005 1.5mn in 2010 and 2.1mn in 2014. The reasons for travel include visiting friends and relatives (38.7 per cent) leisure and recreation (34.3 per cent) and business (18.7 per cent).

The relative share of inbound tourism in the leisure and recreation segment has been stagnant for the past four years ending 2014 at around 34 per cent which is down from 47 per cent logged in 2010.

The total number of same-day visitors increased by nine per cent to 578876 in 2014 compared with 2013 but indicated less growth than the period between 2012 and 2013 which showed a 12 per cent rise from 472805 visitors to 531096.

From 2011-12 the rise was even higher at 26 per cent with numbers increasing from 374658 to 472805. Since 2005 the number of inbound tourists has been growing by an average of 7.4 per cent.

Inbound tourism expenditure reached RO250.9mn in 2014 up 10.4 per cent from RO227.3mn in 2013 while the average expenditure per visitor rose to RO119.6 in 2014 logging a significant growth of 31 per cent compared to 2009 when total expenditure per visitor stood at RO91.10.

Around 72.4 per cent of all visitors stayed more than one night with the remaining 27.6 per cent being same-day visitors.

Overnight visitors surged from 891 to 1519 even as average nights spent by visitors increased from 5 to 7.4 during the same period. The total number of nights spent by the tourists went up from 4.41mn in 2005 to 11.28mn in 2014. Same-day visitors on the other hand numbered 579 in 2014 as against 211 in 2005.

Other GCC nationals accounted for the majority of visitors at 45.8 per cent followed by visitors from Asian countries at 22.6 per cent and those from Europe at 19.2 per cent.

Arab nationals made up 6.2 per cent while visitors from other nations had a share of 6.2 per cent - mostly the Americas and Oceanians.

Out of the 2.1mn visitors in 2014 as many as 1.3mn or 62.3 per cent were males and 0.8mn or 37.7 per cent were females.

Hotel and hotel apartments served 46.6 per cent of all overnight tourists while 36.4 per cent of arrivals stayed with relatives or friends. Furnished flats accounted for four per cent.

The number of hotels increased over the period to 287 from 161 while hotel rooms surged to 14862 from 8132. Hotel revenues rose to RO216.5mn from RO78.1mn while hotel guests increased from 1.4mn to 2.4mn over the period. Occupancy rate however did not show much growth with average occupancy in 2005 and 2014 standing at 47 per cent and 49.2 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile Oman saw an increase in outbound visitors over the period from over 2.49mn to 4.72mn. Among them same-day visitors numbered nearly 1.37mn in 2014 as against 478000 logged in 2005. Further while an outbound tourist spend on average RO115.4 in 2005 the amount declined to RO87.7 by 2014.

Total outbound tourism expenditure registered a significant growth to reach RO414.4mn from RO287.9mn in 2005.

Domestic tourism expenditure on the other hand increased to RO 971.1mn from RO291.5mn in 2005.

If Oman is to increase tourism's contribution to the GDP it must actively seek to attract more inbound tourists and from more diverse markets.

Given the current geopolitical climate Oman must not only market itself as a safe and tranquil destination but also compete with other GCC states that are looking to boost their own share of tourism revenues the bulletin noted.