Sunday 27 / October / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Economy has launched the 'Governorates Tourism' initiative for stimulating and supporting the tourism sector in the Sultanate of Oman.
With focus on lower-tier projects in the tourism sector, the initiative will aim tourist attractions, springs, valleys, and ancient lanes in a way that serves the local economy in the governorates.
The aim is to develop local communities, small and medium enterprises and create new job opportunities for people in the governorates, develop local economy by supporting projects that have comparative advantages in each governorate
Dr. Nasser Rashid Al Ma’awali, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy,, said that this initiative is part of an ambitious phase of transformations of the economy of the Sultanate of Oman to enhance the spatial dimension of development and achieve comprehensive and balanced growth in all the governorates.
He told the Oman News Agency that the initiative will create competition among governorates for tourism projects and develop the tourism sector by wooing investors in the competitive mechanism of each governorate. It will also help in improving tourist destinations.
He added that one of the objectives of the initiative is to enhance economic diversification efforts and local content, provide job opportunities for Omanis that stimulate economic potential and enhance competitiveness within the governorate, noting that the value of the award amounts to OMR15 million.
The governorates have to submit their projects so that the best is selected through a technical committee based on specific criteria in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, and the award may be awarded to one of the governorates or several governorates, not exceeding the value of the award.
He indicated that applications for the award will begin this year, with the results being announced and projects will be presented in 2025.
The Undersecretary of Economy stressed that these projects will contribute to increasing the number of local visitors or from outside the Sultanate of Oman, which will increase the contribution of the tourism sector to the gross domestic product, boost local communities, develop small and medium enterprises, and enhance the competitiveness of the tourism sector in the governorates.
