TOURISM IN OMAN

Oman is one of the most attractive travel destinations in the Middle East, a country

that combines luxurious comfort and safety amidst rugged mountains, panoramic

beaches, and striking desert scapes. Oman is located on the southeast of the Arabian

Peninsula and has an area of approximately 309,500km. It is bordered on the west by

Saudi Arabia, to the northwest lie the United Arab Emirates and to the southwest is

Yemen. The east coast meets with the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. The capital

of Oman is Muscat, a cosmopolitan, but relaxed city, free from the hustle and bustle

found in many of Arabia’s other capital cities. In the south of the Sultanate, is Salalah,

the administrative capital of the Dhofar region.

The Omani people are friendly and welcoming to visitors. Although Arabic is their

main language, English is spoken frequently and is often used as the lingua franca.

Despite their relaxed air, the Omanis are quite conservative people and respect for

their privacy and, in particular, their religion should always be observed. The Omani

people care for the tourists and they welcome them with great honor. The tourists,

because of their simplicity and good character always like Omani people. Modesty is

the keyword in how to dress. Women should wear loose, long garments, ensuring that

their shoulders and knees are covered. Men should wear long trousers and tops with

sleeves. Swimming costumes are fine for the beach or the pool. During the holy

month of Ramdhan, all Muslims fast during the hours of daylight.

Oman is being the most attracted countries in the world by the tourists with its mind-

blowing tourist attractions. Oman has vast deserts, in which the tourists love to do

camping, beautiful beaches for swimming and fishing, forts and castles that represents

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the ancient history of Oman and old souqs for shopping of traditional Omani things.

The Sultanate has many beautiful cities, parks and gardens in which the tourists can

enjoy cruising all the time. There are very beautiful wadis where one can find fresh

water and it is a very beautiful and calm place for the visitors to rest in. Muscat being

the capital city of Oman is highly attracted by tourists with its beautiful n luxurious 5

star hotels, Dhofar and Salalah, which are well known for its greenery and good

climate, Musandam, A’Dhahira, Al-Batinah, A’Dakhliyah, Al-Wusta, and Al-

Sharqiya. All these places are full with ancient monuments and beautiful places.

The Sultanate holds the history of being one of the beautiful tourist attractions with its

ancient histories and crafts. There are various beautiful things to see in Oman

especially, the traditional Arabic market place is called the souq and these are found

in many of the towns throughout the Sultanate. One of the oldest preserved souqs in

Oman is in Muttrah, on the Corniche. Gold and silver jewellery is found in abundance

as well as numerous wooden carvings, ornaments and spices. Muttrah souq is a maze

of pathways leading in and out of each other.

The Ministry of Sultanate of Oman has made a lot of efforts to improve the process of

tourism. The ministries have taken several measures to improve and encourage the

tourism. The citizens of Oman too love encouraging tourism and they get to know the

people from different countries. The ministry has invested in building luxurious

hotels for the tourists to rest in, cleaning the city and beaches for the tourists. The

citizens also helps a lot for the tourists by giving facilities of car rentals and guiding

them to cruise across Oman. The ministry has made its best efforts to encourage

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tourism and has several future plans to improve the level of tourism and to service the

best for the tourists.

Oman’s development plan concerning tourism is focused on attracting foreign

investment in projects such as hotels, golf courses, and theme parks. This industry

offers a variety of employment opportunities for a rapidly expanding Omani

workforce, but is dependent on developing education and training institutions to

support growth. Visa restrictions on tourists were eased starting in 1987 as the Omani

government has sought to slowly expand tourist numbers as infrastructure and

facilities are expanded to meet increased demand. At first only business travellers and

tourists on expensive package tours were allowed in. The government does not want

budget travellers who they feel will alter the culture by not observing the conservative

laws and customs of the region. The current limit on tourists is set at 50,000 a year,

but the government plans to expand that number to 100.000 in ten years, and 728,000

by 2020. All of this must be accomplished while balancing Oman’s delicate

environment. Only 1% of Oman’s land is under cultivation and resources such as

water and land must be used wisely.

The latest project would include The Wave project, which is one of the biggest project

of tourism in Oman. The other mega projects of Oman include Muriya Tourism

Development unveiled Tuesday a two billion dollar project in Jebel Sifah and Salalah

Beach that is set to put the Sultanate on the region’s tourism map. Efforts are also

being made to open up investments in various resort projects similar to the Wave,

Muscat and Blue City in Barka, where employment of Omani youths will be key.

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The Sultanate is a leading example of a country that has used its capital from oil and

injected it into building the country’s infrastructure to provide for its flourishing

leisure and business tourism. The Ministry of Tourism has increased international

exposure in assured markets and its influence will attract a large number of tourists.

The hotel industry of Oman has undergone streamlining due to the introduction of

minimum room rates last year. Nevertheless this has not impeded the year-on-year

continual success of the Al Bustan Palace, otherwise identified as the Jewel of the

Sultanate of Oman. The propitious on-going efforts achieved by the Ministry of

Tourism in promoting the Sultanate as a tourist destination has increased the

popularity of Oman within the tourism business.

New and diverse hotel products such as the Chedi and Shangri La are increasing the

potential for attracting many new niche markets to the destination. Creation of the

Ministry of Tourism and the subsequent appointment of Destination Marketing

Agents in major markets (UK, Germany & France) have raised the awareness of

Oman tremendously in customers’ minds.

The main factors that are facilitating the growth of tourism sector are that the tourist

destinations and attractions within Oman, rapid extension of the tourism projects and

the products and services that are offered by the tourism companies of Oman and the

hospitality provided by the people of Oman towards the visitors.

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Conclusion

Finally it can be said that tourism is now one of the world’s biggest industries in

Oman and will continue to grow in importance over the coming years. The Ministry

of Tourism believes that tourism has a significant role to play in Oman’s future

prosperity and enhancing the quality of life for local residents. Tourism can create

jobs, generate spending, stimulate business activity, support local amenities and

conservation, and add to the vitality and attractiveness of places. On the other hand,

tourism can bring problems in its wake, contributing to congestion and causing

damage to sensitive areas and disruption to local communities. Tourism must be

properly managed, therefore, if its full potential is to be realized.

Tourism is the key factor for the economic growth of the nation. Tourism should be

encouraged and must be improved a lot for the betterment of the tourists. The

Sultanate should open new tourists spots and build new hotels, which should be

reasonable and luxurious for the tourists. Tourism is the easiest way to expose the

country and the resources of the country to the other world so it should be encouraged

and improved.

References

Sarmento, M. (2000). “Total Quality Management: Tourism Industry” PHD

Thesis, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon.

Pearce, P.; Morrison, A.M. and Rutledge, J.L. (1998). Tourism: Bridges across

continents. Sydney: McGraw-Hill, Chapter 2, 'Motivational influences in

tourism demand'.

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Aguilo, E. (1996) Research into policies on tourism. Tourist Review. 51(1),

pp.12-17.

Baum, T. (1994) The development and implementation of national tourism

policies. Tourism Management.

http://www.omanet.com/tourism.html , Accessed 19th December2011

http://www.omaninfo.com/article/growthoftourism.html, Accessed 19th

December 2011

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