Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
Muscat: Thousands of tourists from across the world have only one name on their lips when they plan a trip to Oman...Nabil the tour guide.
42-year-old Nabil Juma Al Hasani who has been a taxi-driving tour guide since he was a teenager, believes that being a noble and fair guide is a service to his country, “I am proud to be able to show visitors my country through my eyes,” Nabil told Times of Oman.
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Nobel Nabil is regularly awarded 5 stars on the online tourist website Trip Advisor and is now so popular that people book him months in advance.
According to Nabil, he works hard to challenge and change some of the misconceptions that people have of Oman and Arabs. “I feel like it is my responsibility as a taxi driver and a tour guide to make the tourist see what Oman is really like, I want them to see its beauty. There have been tourists who would tell me that they either never heard of Oman or that they had negative misconceptions about Arabs. I do my best to change those false ideas, and I always find that greeting them for the first time with a big smile always helps.”
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Nabil plans the trips around each family. “Sometimes, I get visitors who are only passing through the Sultanate, and want to see as many tourist sites as they can. However, they get tired, so I take them to my house so that they could rest, or take a shower” he said.
“I treat tourists not as foreign visitors but as my brothers and sisters. They are welcome to rest in my house and my wife would put henna on for the women. If there happens to be a wedding on that day, I would bring them along so that they could experience it,” he added.
According to Nabil, tourists mainly ask to visit Wadi Shab, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, and various forts. However he tries his best to take the tourists to see some of the hidden gems of Oman.
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“I try to take them to places that they cannot find online. I usually like talking my tourists to Al Ameen Mosque and they are always amazed at how few tourists there are around such a beautiful mosque.”
Years of kindness has paid off for noble Nabil who now takes bookings months in advance, “For this month I am already full. I thank God for where I am today. Thankfully I have many tourists who contact me whenever they come back to Oman. Even some of them recommend me to their friends abroad,” he said.
With 25 years of experience, Nabil has taught himself English and has learnt how to convert different currencies to Omani rials, “Sometimes when tourists come from cruise ships they don’t have Omani rials, if we are short of time I would take the Euros or Dollars so that they do not need to convert it. I try to learn other languages but if a tourist does not speak English then I can always use Google translate to communicate with them.”
Nabil continuously tries to go above and beyond the duties of a local taxi driver and tour guide, “I help the tourists buy things in souqs so that no one can scam them with the prices. Sometimes, if they need their clothes ironed, rather then letting them pay a high price in hotels, I would take their clothes to a local laundry and dry cleaning shop, and return the clothes to them once they are ready.”
“Whenever the tourist leave I would always give them dates as a gift,” Nabil added.
The father of four began taking his 5-year-old son Noah along with him on the tours, “For the past two and a half years I have taken my son with me; I see my son as the youngest tour guide. I teach him what I know because I want him to understand how important it is to always be kind to foreigners, and to be hospitable,” Nabil added.
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Despite all his good intentions, people have been judgemental towards Nabil, “Many people would tell me that I when I post photos of myself with tourists on social media that I am trying to promote myself. This isn’t true. I am not doing anything wrong, I am trying to show the world what Oman is really like and what His Majesty has achieved.”
“I know that many people have a negative idea of us taxi drivers - they view us as scammers - but not all of us are the same,” added Nabil
“It is sad that some taxi drivers have a limited outlook; they only think about how much money they can make today, rather than if they are fair people will come back to them and refer them which is better in the long term,” Nabil said.
Nabil had a rough upbringing but through his passion managed to make a better life for him and his family, all while creating a better image of Oman abroad.
“I did not study as a child, but I thank God because I worked hard to improve myself to now be able to serve my country,” noble Nabil added.
