The Ministry of Tourism celebrated World Tourism Day with SMEs, entrepreneurs, tour operators, artists, crafts men, educational institutions and companies introducing in-depth the diverse aspects of the sectors related to the tourism industry. Taleb Al Raifai, Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), pointed out in his speech on the organisation’s website, the UNWTO strives to accomplish sustainability through the 5 major aspects which are: economy, society, environment, culture, and world peace. This vision is in keeping with the vision of the Omani government and are the core values of the Omani Tourism Strategy, which encourages us to spread awareness about the subject, and let people know about the efforts made by the ministry. We hereby urge our partners and the related bodies to contribute positively towards sustainable tourism. We would like to extend our thanks to all the participating organisations and individuals that took part in the World Tourism Day event.”
Advisor at the Ministry of Tourism, Sayyid Adil Almurdas al Busaidy, launched the book, Geoheritage Tour Guide, and said: “The Sultanate displays an outstanding array of geoheritage phenomena, many of which are world class. These features play an important role in promoting sustainable appreciation of geology and landforms as well as providing a dramatic environment for other tourism experiences.”
The book is divided into four sections namely valleys and springs, mountains and caves, lakes, bays and islands, sands and deserts in addition to the Geoheritage map.
Bringing in the element of adventure tourism Oman has to offer is Majlis Al Jinn located high on the Salma Plateau above Fins on the Qurayyat to Sur road. Amongst a number of caves is the huge cavern known as Majlis Al Jinn. “This immense chamber, at around 4 million cubic meters is amongst the world’s largest cave chambers. Formed of fossil rich Eocene Limestone, these mountain rocks are around 45 million years old. The Salma Plateau with four other vertical cave entrances as well as horizontal output connect together and form Oman’s longest known cave system stretching out to 11.5 km.”
A series of films on destinations in Oman from aerial perspective — Sky Oman was launched on the occasion. The breath taking views of waterfalls, cliffs and valleys were received with great excitement.
Haitham bin Muhammed al Ghassani, Deputy Director General of Tourism Promotion, MoT said, “We aim to raise awareness of the crucial role the tourism sector is playing in shaping our nation’s economy, culture, and society, through this celebration event. We also aimed to tackle the global tourism challenges and bring into light the contribution of the sector to GDP.”
The centre stage belonged to the differently-abled fine-arts team of ‘Adati’, and the work of photographers that work in the sector. There were individuals who have just stepped out with business ideas for their hobbies ranging from catering to crafts.
The World Tourism Day celebration became a platform to showcase the variety of tourism facilities available in the country.
Lakshmi Kothaneth
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