Wednesday 04 / December / 2024
Khasab: The next time you’re in Musandam, you might want to call on Zaree Khasab, Oman’s all-women tour group.
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Founded in collaboration with Omran, the country’s national tourism development authority, Zaree Khasab aims at sharing Omani culture and tradition with visitors who stop by the northern governorate. “We welcome some 54 cruise ships during the tourism season from September to May,” said Iman Al Salti, team lead for Zaree Khasab, which is named after the gold thread used in the intricate embroidery of the traditional clothes worn by Omani women.
“This season, we welcomed some 40 cruise ships, and there were some 2,000 to 3,000 people on each ship. Khasab is quite small, and they can only go to the sea and the mountain, so the idea came from there. If you look at the number of people who are coming, we thought of how we could make them interested in Musandam, and also looked at how local people could benefit from them.”
“We decided to open a majlis or sablah inside Khasab port, so that once people finished their dhow cruises, they could come to this tent and connect with our culture and share it,” she added.
“If they want to know anything about Omani culture, eat Omani food, buy any souvenirs that are handmade from the women in Khasab, or ask about Arabian culture, they can do it; the most important thing is to exchange ideas with local people.
“If they want to wear the traditional clothes or get some henna designs on their hands, we can do that for them as well.”
Established five years ago, the idea originally came from Omran and the Ministry of Tourism.
“They tried to form a group of women and supported us for the first year, but after that we continued the activities by ourselves. We are five women, and we have another 10 who provide us with traditional activities,” said Al Salti.
“We make money when tourists engage in traditional activities, and we also have a contract with the hotels here. For example, we demonstrate live cooking classes at Atana Musandam.”
“The people like this very much, and they are surprised that we are actually locals,” she added.
“For example, when they visit Dubai, they don’t see many locals, so when they come here, they are really interested to meet local people. Now, we are an SME, but we want to make this big. We want to have shops in hotels and in ports. We also go to the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai every year, and we were also in France last October.”
Having now successfully managed to stand on her own feet and earn independently, Al Salti said it was patience that helped Zaree Khasab take its first step toward success. “When we began, we used to work from 6am to 6pm. The tourists would only give us an apple, maybe because they thought we were hungry. During our second year, we set up a small tent, but the wind would blow it away. In the third year, we had a bigger tent and now we are beginning to get money, so I would say that patience is very important, because it is the most important thing to get success.”
“My parents and husband are happy to support me. Everyone says Zaree Khasab is changing the ideas of the women in Musandam. Previously, you would not find any women working in hotels, but when we began working in hotels, we changed their mindset, and now, 15 women are working in hotels here. There is nothing like being a man or a woman: my entire team is from Khasab, and they realise that work is work, and we all need to contribute,” Al Salti said.
