Oman’s Ministry of Tourism has embarked on a full-fledged global advertising campaign with the launch of a film on television and other digital platforms to build awareness about the leisure opportunities in the country.
Conceptualised and developed by the ministry teams working in Oman and India, the film features picturesque locations of glistening Muscat city, rustic town of Sur, historic city of Nizwa, well nurtured turtle reserve at Ras Al Jinz, breezy-mountainous regions of Jabal Akdhar, and pristine Damaniyat Islands.
According to Salim Adi al Mamari, Director-General of Tourism Promotion, this is the first-of-its-kind India-specific brand campaign for travellers looking for new, niche and experiential destinations.
“We are successfully promoting Oman in the Indian market and in countries around the world, and felt there was a strong need for a customised film that highlights the Omani culture, landscape and history”, Al Mamari said.
The film, directed by Bapi Bit of Motherboard Films, depicts the journey of a young man from India visiting Oman for a friend’s wedding and in the process exploring the facets of the country. The lyrics of the background song ‘I want a freedom from me’ portray the feelings of the protagonist, bringing out a myriad of emotions.
“We believe that the new film has put together an interesting mélange of all these facets and are certain that the film will appeal to audiences; while helping boost footfalls in the coming month,” Al Mamari said.
According to him, a media plan for a tourism brand has to keep two different stakeholder categories in mind.
Hence the film has multiple versions with the master having five minutes version for B2B platforms such as events, roadshows while the 4-minute version targets the international markets; two versions of two-minute videos for the digital platform and the 30 seconder for television.
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“The idea of the film was to go beyond the premium travellers; and attract younger audiences, women travellers, etc. as these are some of the emerging travel segments that India and the rest of the world are witnessing in the last couple of years”, he said.
Also, since weddings are an important part of Indian culture, he said, “we are constantly striving to promote Oman for destination weddings and have hence encapsulated a segment in the film which is wedding specific that showcases the different hues, emotions and rituals of an Indian wedding.”
With the Indian wedding industry worth, more than $25 billion a year and growing at an estimated 20 per cent annually, brands are betting big on this segment’s potential.
Thus the campaign has got a segment which showcases different aspects of an Indian wedding, and how the destination can fit in well.
Indian travellers to the Sultanate have been on the rise with the growth witnessing almost 82 per cent in the last 5 years. Oman received 297,628 arrivals from India in 2016, as compared to 256,210 arrivals in 2014, marking almost 16 per cent growth in two years.
As a destination brand Oman has had a premium positioning, for its more evolved markets like Europe and the US, and it plans to remain as a premium experience-led destination for the Indian traveller as well.
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