Sunday 07 / July / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) has warned unlicenced owners of guesthouses and hotels of strict action if they don’t seek tourism licences for their establishments.
The warning comes in the light of a campaign launched by the ministry to streamline unlicenced guesthouses, hotels and homestays.
The campaign is to ensure that the owners get licences from the ministry to maintain quality services to guests and visitors.
According to the ministry, there are more than 1,700 unlicenced tourist establishments in Oman and the operations of these unlicenced hotels and guesthouses do affect the quality of tourism services in the Sultanate of Oman.
To regulate the tourism sector and check the malpractices, the ministry started a month-long awareness campaign called ‘Quality begins with licencing’.
In his remarks to Shabiba Radio, Talal bin Humaid Al Khusaibi, Assistant Director General of Tourism Licencing and Investor Services at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, said: “The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism recently launched a campaign under the slogan ‘Quality begins with licencing’. It is an educational campaign aimed at regulating the work of hotel establishments, especially unlicenced ones, whose number exceeds 1,700 in all governorates across the Sultanate of Oman.”
Al Khusaibi added, “The campaign aims to sustain the hotel sector and maintain its efficiency in line with the quality requirements. The ministry is keen to ensure that the visitors in all governorates of the Sultanate of Oman are provided good services. We aim to reduce malpractices that affect the quality of tourism products and services and the reputation of the tourism sector in general. Such unlicenced establishments also put a financial burden on the economy and there are also less job opportunities due to such practices while running hotel activity without licences.”
Al Khusaibi explained that the so-called “rest houses”, which have spread widely in various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman, are part of hotel establishments that require a licence to carry out their activities. “Not obtaining a licence for a hotel establishment is a violation of the applicable laws and regulations,” he said.
He added that the failure of these establishments to obtain a tourism licence lead to an increase in lack of security and safety requirements, and also give wrong statistical indicators.
“The owners of these unlicenced establishments clearly violate the provisions of Article 12 of the Tourism Law by occupying any tourist site or area or part of it, benefiting from it, exploiting it, or disposing of it without a licence from the ministry,” Al Khusaibi said.
He explained that the licence protects the owner of the facility from several aspects, including avoiding legal accountability, and gaining the confidence of the guests. “When the facility is licenced and follows standards and requirements at the highest levels, it avoids unfair competition with facilities in the same sector,” he added.
He added that legal procedures would be taken against violators, through a series of procedures through the work and inspection teams of the ministry in cooperation with the concerned authorities from the Public Prosecution and others, and to determine the penalty due against the violator.
To avoid such violations, owners of unlicenced facilities must submit a request to licence tourism activity through the portal. E-services of the Ministry in a simple and easy way, noting that the licence period validity is for five years for a fee of OMR250.
On the requirements for obtaining a licence for the guest house, he said that one of the most important requirements is that it should consist of a minimum of two rooms and does not exceed nine rooms. The house should be built of fixed materials in order to ensure the security and safety of its visitors, in addition to other requirements that are mentioned on the electronic portal for services of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism.
Al Khusaibi said that the ministry will continue to follow up on the owners of unlicenced host establishments, through coordination and cooperation with the relevant concerned authorities, with the aim of taking all necessary legal measures against those who engage in hotel activity without obtaining the required licences from the competent authorities.
He stressed that adherence to tourism licences is a mandatory requirement, and investors wishing to invest in the tourism sector must follow the conditions to obtain the necessary licences.
He concluded that the campaign’s goals are manifold – to enhance the hotel sector’s operations, ensure quality standards align with the ministry’s vision, curb malpractices that tarnish the tourism sector’s reputation, and curtail financial discrepancies arising from unregulated hotel activities.
Moreover, the campaign seeks to address security concerns linked to these establishments.
