The Minister of Tourism for Oman, Maitha Al Mahrouqi, has announced that room capacity in the Sultanate is expected to rise from 12,000 to 20,000 by 2015.
The country is expecting a surge in bookings for Oman holidays after it appointed overseas tourism representatives in 16 foreign countries including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, New Zealand and Australia.
Airport capacity is expected to treble in both Muscat and Salalah, with 12 million visitor arrivals at Muscat International Airport and three million visitors in the southern city by 2015.
In areas where we do not have direct access with Oman Air, we are forging partnerships with regional airlines to bring in visitors via Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi where we have joint visa arrangements – and are now aiming to bring the private sector together to package combinations, the tourism minister explained.
Al Mahrouqi stated that the increased number of travellers going on holidays to Oman would lead to a three per cent increase to GDP and more jobs would be created for Oman residents.
One challenge is to change the perception of tourism as a career and to increase vocational training, she explained. As well as the department for tourism training in Qaboos University and the Tourism College, we are looking to open a technical college in Salalah too.
Several new Oman hotels are in the pipeline and international hotel groups are getting ready to either debut in the country or add properties to their collection of hotels and resorts. These include Swiss-Belhotels, InterContinental, and Shaza.
Oman has become a popular tourist destination over recent years and the country now offers a selection of luxury hotels, attractions, sights and activities for travellers of all ages.
Muscat is a popular destination for tourists, and during holidays in Oman, holidaymakers can walk miles along the citys beaches and coastline or explore the historic sites and attractions such as the Al Jalali Fort and Al Mirani forts, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Qasr Al Alam Royal Palace, Qurum National Park and the Bait az-Zubair Museum.
Despite the thousands of miles of dry golden sand deserts and dunes, Oman is fast-becoming a popular destination for scuba diving and snorkelling. The shores off the coast of Omans capital, Muscat, are teeming with colourful soft and hard corals and hundreds of marine species, from seahorses and Oman clownfish, to loggerhead turtles, dolphins, sharks and humpback whales.
