Sunday 22 / December / 2024
Muscat: The social media account, “Experience Oman”, of the Ministry of Tourism, is drawing attention in the virtual world because of its rich content about the natural and cultural elements of the Sultanate, increasing engagement among its followers from around the world.
The Ministry of Tourism has accounts, “Experience Oman”, in six languages: Arabic, English, French, Italian, German and Dutch, presenting the Sultanate as a major tourist destination in various markets of the world. These accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat etc. share scenes, experiences of tourists in Oman, along with important information for tourists.
These accounts have won awards for the year 2017 for their exemplary use of social media at the level of the Middle East and North Africa.
The Ministry of Tourism urged the tourism sector and individuals to get benefit from the promotional content of the website www.experienceoman.com and is increasing engagement with the “Experience Oman” accounts. It also provides opportunities to followers and social media influencers to share their experiences during their visit to these sites in the Sultanate using hashtag #ExperienceOman.
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The electronic accounts of the Ministry of Tourism are aimed at providing information required by local and foreign tourists coming to the country. These accounts promote various tourist destinations in the Sultanate and highlight developments in the sectors of hotel establishments and travel, tourism and tourist guide offices.
They also track various tourism activities organised in the Sultanate. Al Hajri said that the areas, which were covered by these accounts, include various tourism verities, which the Sultanate boasts of, such as natural tourism, heritage, cultural, sports, business and conference tourism.
Saleh bin Ali Al Khaefi, Director of Promotions Department in the Ministry of Tourism, said that the attention paid to the social networking sites managed by the ministry was great because these accounts have rich promotional content about the natural characteristics of the Sultanate.
He said that the Ministry of Tourism was working to benefit from modern technologies in the promotion of tourism and using social media networks to reach out to the world. It is also investing in it in a better way as it realises the importance of highlighting tourist and civilizational elements of the Sultanate. It is continuously trying to strengthen its presence on these networks appropriately with content on tourism, coverage of events and activities, experiences of tourists, highlighting tourism seasons and reports of national events.
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He said that the success achieved by these accounts and the positive subjects they covered were appreciated by international institutions concerned.
Yousef Al Majizi, head of the e-marketing department in the Ministry of Tourism, said that promotional content about natural sites received the most engagement, and showed the beauty of Oman. We have seen that tweets about some wadis went viral and got appreciation in the form of comments. Similarly, the tourism seasons for camping in deserts, harvesting of pomegranates in Jabal Akhdhar, Khareef in Dhofar, mountain trekking, adventure tourism, dolphin watching and other such activities also get a good response.
He said that the Ministry of Tourism has followed the policy of benefiting from social media celebrities, and has targeted influencers by inviting them to visit the Sultanate, walk around and spread whatever their cameras and minds have recorded among their followers.
He also said that the ministry realised that social networking platforms were being used for very fast and effective tourism promotions and marketing. According to international trends, they were going to be a global trend in the near future. The World Tourism Organisation celebrations of the International Day of Tourism on September 27 this year were on “Tourism and Digital Transformation”. It emphasised the importance of e-marketing in tourism. He said that the ministry wanted to move in this direction in the future.
Aseelah Bint Khalifa Al Ghafriya, a market researcher in the Ministry of Tourism, said that the ministry, which manages the social networking accounts, focuses on many aspects of tourism, activities and events, and most importantly, the experiences of tourists.
She said that the indicators of interaction would be measured through the number of likes, views, comments, impressions and access etc, as well as the number of followers. The photos, videos, and articles from international journalists about Oman are also some of the important means of promotion. She said that the ministry was organising competitions to encourage Twitter users to complete in highlighting the aesthetics of the Sultanate by taking photos, which tell all. Such competitions gave good results in terms of increasing the number of followers and supporting the ratio of interactions.
Al Ghafriya said that the focus is on all aspects of tourism in the Sultanate, whether to promote tourist sites, cultural, historical or natural elements. All these efforts are being made, taking into account the nature of the market. She said that the natural places, such as wadis, have their own attractiveness and get more engagement from followers.
There are some places in Muscat, such as Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and Mutrah Souq, which trend highest on social networking sites. If foreigners interact with social media accounts, it is good for the tourism sector of the country.
On the ministry’s plans to expand the use of communication to promote tourism, she said that the ministry was considering intensifying promotional campaigns, paid advertisements and hosting social media influencers. She said that the ministry always encouraged community initiatives to promote the Sultanate.
Social media accounts of the Ministry of Tourism
There are two types of social media accounts of the Ministry of Tourism—the official account, “Oman Tourism”, and the other promotional account, “Experience Oman”.
These accounts are on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Google+ and Pinterest.
The handles are:
Accounts Channels
@ExperienceOM_AR Twitter in Arabic
@ExperienceOman Twitter in English
@ExperienceOman
@ExperienceOmanAR
@ExperienceOmanDE
@ExperienceOmanIT
@ExperienceOmanFR
@ExperienceOmanNL Facebook
(Pages in 6 different languages)
@ExperienceOman Instagram
Experience Oman Google+
Experience Oman YouTube
Experience Oman Pinterest
ExperienceOman Snapchat
