Muscat: Dhofar governorate will welcome tourists for the 2025 Khareef season with a slew of new tourism initiatives and increased marketing efforts, in addition to its already extensive contributions. The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MoHT) is continuously establishing new facilities and improving methods to improve the visitor experience and increase tourist registrations.
New additions to Dhofar's tourism scene.
Several new tourism projects are being launched in anticipation of the approaching Khareef season:
• Dhofar Private Museum
• A threestar hotel with 84 rooms in Mirbat.
• Salalah's luxury hotel apartments with 216 rooms
With these recent licenses, the total number of residential and commercial buildings in Dhofar reaches 100, which have over 8,000 hotel rooms. Furthermore, a new tourist information kiosk will open at the Haffa Beach Market to better service guests.
Dhofar: A Unique Summer Getaway
Khalid bin Abdullah Al Abri, Director General of the Directorate General of Heritage and Tourism in Dhofar Governorate, emphasized Dhofar's unique appeal as a summer location. He pointed out its remarkable climate during Khareef, which attracts a variety of tourists from all over the world. The governorate's natural variety, which includes beaches, mountain valleys, golden sands, and nature reserves, provides an outstanding backdrop for adventure activities, water sports, camping, fishing, turtle viewing, and kitesurfing. Visitors may also explore historic shipbuilding workshops, which provide a cultural element to their visit. The presence of green turtles nesting between June and August adds to its distinct tourist appeal.
Strategic Promotional Plan
The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism has developed a detailed action plan for the Dhofar Khareef season's tourism promotion, as well as a larger marketing plan for all tourism seasons this year. This proactive strategy seeks to engage a wide range of global market segments.
Key promotional activities include:
• Targeting international audiences via customized initiatives, seminars, field trips, and media newsletters.
• Attendance at the Arabian Travel Market 2025 show in Dubai, where the Chairman of Dhofar Municipality revealed the season's events.
• Hosting promotional events in Saudi Arabia to promote Flynas and Flyadeal's new direct flights to Salalah Airport, in collaboration with Omani airports and tourism firms.
• A press conference in Kuwait with the Dhofar Municipality to promote the programs and events for the 2025 Dhofar Autumn Season.
• A targeted promotional effort in Kuwait timed with Eid Al-Adha will include information, discounts, and packages, as well as support from Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways.
Objectives for Khareef 2025
The Ministry intends to meet three basic goals through its promotional efforts for the next season:
1) Promote the whole 100-day term of the Khareef season, commencing from the start.
2) To distribute tourist traffic more evenly, divide the season (June 21 to September 21) into three phases to handle peak times.
• Period 1 (June 21-July 14): Hotel occupancy rates of 35-40% are predicted.
• Period 2 (July 15 to August 30): Considered peak tourist season.
• Period 3 (September 1 to October 10): Hotel occupancy rates are projected to be between 30-35%, with attempts to move regional and international conferences to this time.
3) Increase tourist traffic from GCC markets by strengthening marketing efforts and leveraging the growing airline network, particularly direct flights from Saudi Arabia through Saudi Airlines and Flyadeal (a new operator to Dhofar). Flynas will maintain its direct flights to Salalah.
The Ministry is working with tourism sector partners to create attractive tourism packages. These packages seek to increase domestic and Gulf tourism during off-peak periods, such as the start of the school year, by maximizing direct flights from important Gulf markets.
The Dhofar Khareef season has consistently seen robust growth. In 2024, the visitor count reached 1,048,000, a 9% increase over the 962,000 recorded in 2023, highlighting the region's rising popularity as a top tourist destination.
