Incredible South Al Batinah!

Muscat: South Al Batinah Governorate is one of the beautiful tourist destinations in the Sultanate of Oman. It has natural, tourist and cultural attractions, including coasts, seas, mountains, water springs, caves, valleys, heritage and cultural monuments, exploration of new areas for adventure tourism, and many natural and urban attractions. It is a mixture of antiquity and modernity.

Dr. Al-Mutasem bin Nasser Al-Hilali, Director of the Heritage and Tourism Department in the Governorate of South Al-Batinah, said that Nakhal Fort, Al-Rustaq Fort, Al-Hazm Fort, Barka Fort, Al-Awabi Fort, Al-Musanna Fort, Bait Al-Numan Fort and Al-Khamis Tower are among the shrines that tell the ancient legacy of the governorate's wilayats, indicating that the total number of visitors to the three forts reached during the year The past 7222 visitors of various nationalities.

Ain Al-Kasfa and Ain Al-Thawwara are destinations for the treatment of some diseases, and the valleys of Al-Hawqayn, Bani Awf, Bani Hani, Al-Sahtan, Qaryati, Kan and Balad Seet are among the favorite destinations for lovers of mountain adventure sports like hiking.

There are markets such as the Rustaq and Nakhl markets, which tell of the ancient folklore and witness a great turnout by visitors, especially during the holidays and official holidays.

He added to Oman News Agency (ONA) that there is a plan that the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism is working on, represented by the Heritage and Tourism Department in the Governorate of South Al Batinah, during the coming period to develop the heritage and tourism sector through a comprehensive plan and offer heritage sites such as castles and forts for investment.

He stressed that there are tourism and heritage projects that the administration is implementing, represented in the project of restoring the forts of Rustaq and Nakhl, and assigning the development and investment of the Ain Al-Kasfah and Al-Thawara sites to local companies by the governor’s office and in coordination with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, indicating that there is a plan to involve small and medium enterprises and the local community in operating the sites. In the historical wilayats of the governorate, where two agreements were signed to operate each of Nakhal Fort and Al Khamis Tower, and agreements for 'usufruct' projects were signed with a number of private companies, and a 'usufruct right' was signed for an oasis in Wadi Bani Awf in coordination with a local company to provide adventure tourism services.