Hotels in Oman have been told to register the names of all guest and their visitors with the Royal Oman Police on a daily basis, the tourism ministry has confirmed.
Until now, a semi-voluntary reporting system has been in place, but the ministry announced last night that it is tightening up the rules as too many hotels have not been submitting the logs.
The ministry undersecretary has cited security and a more transparent auditing process as the main reasons for the new register.
They are also streamlining the reporting process by creating an online, electronic site for all hotels in the country.
That system will record information about guests and provide ROP with daily data on guests, their nationalities, check-in and check-out date, and time of stay.
They will also have to provide all information and statistics to the ministry regarding visitors to guest rooms and single females will be barred from hotel room visits unless accompanied by a relative.
The new ruling was announced last night at a meeting to discuss the Oman Tourism Strategy.
A source at the ministry said: “This time, all hotels will abide by the rule to send the data to ROP.
“Earlier, some hotels didn’t follow the rule but now all must follow. “Hotels who fail to do so will face legal action.”
Welcoming this decision, Vijay Handa, General Manager, Masirah Island Resort, said that it would enhance the safety of visitors.
“Now the ROP personnel visit our hotel and take our records but it would be better if everything is online and then we can send all details of our guests once someone checks into our hotel,” he said.
“This is a process that has been going on for so many years with the hotels and we can’t reveal what kind of details we give to the ROP as it is confidential between us and the ROP,” an official at the Intercontinental Muscat Hotel told.
An official at the Grand Hyatt Muscat Hotel said they have already complied with the ruling.
“We have been doing this for a long time,” she said.
According to Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa official they are ready to comply with the government’s needs.
Source: TimesOfOman