EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW OMAN: A DIFFERENT KIND OF DESTINATION Exclusive Interview: Ahmed Bin Nasser Bin Hamed Al Mahrizi, Sultanate of Oman (Official ITB Berlin Partner Country 2020) Growth of visitor numbers to Oman has, since 2013 not been less than 5.7% per annum. We asked Ahmed Bin Nasser Bin Hamed Al Mahrizi, the nation’s Minister of Tourism, to tell us more. Ahmed Bin Nasser Bin Hamed Al Mahrizi Minister of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman We think this kind of growth will continue up to 2028, and international reports confirm this. The government is taking care of the tourism sector, because we want to develop five sectors, including tourism, so as not to be so dependent on oil revenues. With oil prices constantly fluctuating, this is very bad for our future. Along with tourism, we aim to develop agriculture, light industry, logistics, and mining. One of our main exports is marble, which we even export to Europe. But we need to take care of our culture, our identity, and thus to avoid overtourism. The population of Oman is small: only three-million Omanis and a total of four-point-five million including foreign nationals. People are open to foreigners, but they don’t yet understand the tourism sector as a “business”. This is why we have created our own strategy up to 2040, taking care of these aspects – specially the culture. We also want to target adventure tourism, with hiking, biking and climbing, and so on. We have mountains, desert and beautiful seas for diving. MICE is another sector we want to grow. We intend to limit the number of tourists, but concentrate on those who spend more. Recently, the Sultanate has taken certain important measures
Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #42 2019 Spring Edition 5 5 © Richard Bartz © Shivinder Bhandari OMAN RECEIVES PATWA CULTURE AWARD IN THE MIDDLE EAST Minister of Tourism, Wadi Bani Khalid, Sharqiyah region, Oman The minaret of Friday Mosque as seen from Nizwa Fort, Nizwa, Oman The Sultanate of Oman made a new achievement in the tourism sector this year as it was awarded the “Best Destination - Heritage & Culture” in 2019 by the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA), an official UNWTO affiliate in March this year. HE Ahmed bin Nasser Bin Hamed Al Mahrizi, Minister of Tourism, received the Sultanate's award, on the sidelines of ITB Berlin from Dr Taleb Rifai, former UNWTO Secretary-General, and Sagar Ahluwalia, the Secretary General of Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA). that have had positive impacts on the tourism sector of our country. These measures included making tourism visa easy, increasing investment in the sector, establishing more hotel and other related establishments, increasing promotional drive and exploring new markets. What are the main source markets and how are they evolving? The gulf countries – especially in June, July and August. They come to the south of Oman, because in these months, the weather is similar to India, with rain, and temperatures dropping to the mid 20s, when the weather is very hot in the north of Oman. It’s not far for them, and they prefer to come by car. In the winter time, they come to the north of Oman. After that, there’s the Europeans, with the number one market being the UK. We also have WE HAVE MOUNTAINS, DESERT AND BEAUTIFUL SEAS FOR DIVING. MICE IS ANOTHER SECTOR WE WANT TO GROW. many visitors from Germany and France. There are an increasing number of charter flights from Europe to the south of Oman – to Salalah. New markets for us are China, Iran and India. Indians have been coming for a long time, but we have been increasing our focus on this market since last year. OMAN TO BECOME OFFICIAL PARTNER OF ITB BERLIN 2020 The Ministry of Tourism of the Sultanate of Oman has been named as Official Partner Country for ITB Berlin, held in March 2020. The major international forum of the travel and tourism industry will see the participation of many hotels and other tourism establishments of the country, along with the national carrier of the Sultanate, Oman Air, and Oman Airports Company. The Sultanate has recently taken a number of important measures to aid the country’s tourism sector. These included facilitating tourism visas, increasing investment in the sector, encouraging investment in the hospitality sector, increasing promotion and exploring new markets.
