Saturday 04 / May / 2024
Muscat: Oman was named the second hottest travel destination in the world this year, in Vogue magazine’s top 10 list for 2017.
The Sultanate was ranked next to Georgia in the itinerary of places tourists must visit this year, ahead of destinations such as Langkawi in Malaysia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, the US state of Idaho, Jordan, the Danish city of Aarhus and Colombia.
Oman was praised because it offered tourists an experience that was unlike any in the Middle East, explained hoteliers in the region.
“Oman has been recognised as an important holiday destination because it has so much to offer, compared with the other countries in the region,” said Baida
Al Sukaiti, PR and Communications Manager for the Intercontinental Hotel.
“We have a fantastic coastline, the beaches are beautiful, the people are good, and we have a history and a culture that has not disappeared, despite the times,” she noted. “The Europeans, for example, do not have what we have,” she declared.
“They see that we have something completely different. We have the sea, wadis (valleys), camping, the forts; whatever you want you can get here. We are not restricted to just one tourist activity. “People don’t come here just to shop, and if they want to shop, there are lots of traditional items, such as frankincense and Omani halwa that they can buy.
“The Ministry of Tourism says that ‘beauty has an address’, and Oman is that address,” she added.
Her sentiment was echoed by Praveen George, General Manager of Sales and Marketing for the Al Falaj Hotel.
“Oman has a lot of natural beauty, and most of the tourists are amazed by it.
“The beauty is not restricted to Muscat, but is spread across the nation, and that brings a lot of tourists to Oman, once they have experienced it,” he said.
“This is just so different from what the rest of the Middle East has to offer.
“The inflow has been very, very good and our hotel has about 80 per cent occupancy at the moment,” he stated.
“It’s got to do with the friendly rules and regulations that Oman has right now, because the government is promoting tourism aggressively,” revealed George. “If tourism continues this way, we should have a huge increase in the coming years and that’s what we are looking forward to.”
Undiscovered haven
“Oman to me is an undiscovered haven, which is not pretentious, with a very tourist-friendly community all over the country,” mentioned Nurhayati Mohamad, Marketing and Communications Manager for Six Senses Zighy Bay. “Oman’s beauty speaks for itself, and the Hajar mountains, forts and other historical sites are just a few of the attractions for tourists,” she said. “Culture and heritage are present in abundance, especially around the old forts and villages.
“For example, observing how fishermen conduct their daily routine is interesting to a lot of tourists, who love trying the Omani hand-line fishing style, and that is not something you can find elsewhere,” she said.
According to the latest official data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, last year Oman received 2.5 million tourists through October 2016, a 15 per cent increase over the same period in 2015.
