Tourists from the UAE are flocking to Oman after the early arrival of the khareef season in the northern city of Salalah.
Khareef, the Arabic for autumn, is also known as monsoon season and normally starts in June.
But this year the constant rolling mist and floating clouds have started early.
From January until the first week of May, about 415,000 tourists from the UAE visited Oman, nearly 60 per cent more than the same period last year, said Khamis Abdulrahman, an official at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism.
“It started with the winter when the snow stayed longer on the mountains than usual,” Mr Abdulrahman told The National.
“After the snow finally melted, Oman is now seeing Salalah’s khareef starting two months earlier.
“This is why we guess more UAE tourists than normal have visited the sultanate this year.”
The unprecedented amount of snow last winter pulled in thousands of tourists to Jabal Al Akhdar, home to Oman’s tallest mountain at 3,020 metres.
January temperatures in Jabal Al Akhdar's mountain towns were as low as minus 3°C compared to 1°C last year, said Oman's Meteorology Office. The temperatures were the coldest recorded since 2016.
The snow was more than 7cm deep, compared to 2.5cm the year before.
It is cheaper and faster for UAE tourists to fly to Oman than go further afield during winter.
“It is a quick flight from Dubai to Oman and the kids get to play in the snow and jump into lakes in Salalah for a budget of less than Dh15,000 in a week for the whole family,” Khalifa Al Saqri, 46, a father of three from Ras Al Khaimah, told The National.
“It is a bargain compared to flying all the way to Istanbul for five of us.”
Some UAE tourists prefer to drive because many attractions in Salalah and Jabal Al Akhdar are only accessible with a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
“It is only two hours by air from Abu Dhabi to Salalah and just less than an hour to Muscat, but you need a four-wheel drive to get to places you want to be,” said Harish Laxmidas, an Indian national working in Abu Dhabi.
“Another advantage of driving is that you can take up to five members of your family and that will cut the down the travelling costs.”
Mr Laxmidas said the drive from Abu Dhabi to Salalah took about 10 hours, but “was well worth it”.
Omani tour guides and businesses have welcomed the increased number of tourists.
“They are still coming here in Salalah because the khareef has started much earlier than usual,” tour guide Mohammed Al Darei told The National.
“My tour buses are full almost every day with UAE visitors.”
Jabal Al Akhdar has seen a rise in tourist numbers, though the snow has melted with warmer temperatures.
“We had snow until the beginning of April this year in Jabal Al Akhdar and the UAE tourists kept coming,” said Hamood Al Farei, a restaurant owner in the mountain village of Al Aqr. “Normally, the snow stops in mid-February.
“Most restaurants owners, including myself, almost doubled our income this winter compared to last year, just because the snow lasted longer.”
Oman's mountains feature picturesque villages built more than three centuries ago with houses that are still lived in.
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Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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