207
Hotels
That puts Sur at 4 of 11 on the official table.
Back to Ash Sharqiyah South
Sur · Topic file
Does Sur have a real place economy, or just rooms on paper?
A lot of governorates are sold on heritage, climate, scenery or access. The numbers have to back up the story — empty rooms are not a visitor economy. For Sur, the honest read comes down to hotels and hotel occupancy rate.
39.3%
Hotel occupancy rate
That puts Sur at 5 of 11 on the official table.
The numbers
Where Sur stands today, chart by chart
Hotels
Number of hotels by governorate in 2025.
NCSI Statistical Year Book 2026, Table 2-21.
Hotel occupancy rate
Hotel occupancy rate by governorate in 2025.
NCSI Statistical Year Book 2026, Table 9-21.
The trend over time
How Sur got here
Hotels
How quickly the hotel base is growing — useful for spotting where the tourism story is real on the ground, and where it is still mostly a brochure.
2022–2024: Table 2-21, Statistical Year Book 2025 (Issue 53). 2025: Table 2-21, Statistical Year Book 2026 (Issue 54).
Hotel occupancy rate
How full the hotels actually are. Capacity is easy to build; this is the line that tells you whether visitors are turning up.
2022–2024: Table 9-21, Statistical Year Book 2025 (Issue 53). 2025: Table 9-21, Statistical Year Book 2026 (Issue 54).
Reading the charts
What the latest tables are really saying
- Sur is showing 207 on hotels. That puts Sur at 4 of 11 on the official table.
- Sur is showing 39.3% on hotel occupancy rate. That puts Sur at 5 of 11 on the official table.
- The official MOHUP role is unambiguous: Ash Sharqiyah South should become a leading centre for marine activity, balancing industry, fisheries, marine research, tourism, agriculture and the environmental constraints of the coast. Visitor numbers, service quality and the feel of the place are part of the real test here, not just the branding.
Why this file matters
The strategy Sur is being measured against
Hotels, occupancy, and whether the place is becoming a real destination or just adding rooms.
The official MOHUP role is unambiguous: Ash Sharqiyah South should become a leading centre for marine activity, balancing industry, fisheries, marine research, tourism, agriculture and the environmental constraints of the coast.
- Sur is meant to operate as a stronger urban, commercial and tourism centre.
- Marine-linked sectors are supposed to range from fisheries and research to administration and tourism rather than sitting in a narrow niche.
- The strategy repeatedly stresses the need to keep marine and coastal growth in balance with fragile environmental conditions.
Related topic files
Five more ways into the Ash Sharqiyah South execution map
These linked files cover the other live tests in the same governorate, so the numbers on capital, jobs, services, tourism, utilities, and urban buildout can be read together instead of in isolation.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Capital deployment
How much money is actually being committed, and whether the property market is picking up the signal.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Urban buildout and housing
Population, permits and whether the place is actually being built fast enough for the role it has been handed.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Jobs and enterprise
The jobs and businesses that show whether the governorate has a working economy, or just a project list.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Human capability and essential services
Whether schools and hospitals are keeping up — the simplest read on whether people can build a life here.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Infrastructure and utilities
Roads, water and the quiet base layer that usually decides whether any of the rest of it actually works.