14-day Sur Maritime Heritage Festival begins
STRAP: The wilayat is the capital of Arab tourism for the year 2024
Published: 05:02 PM,Feb 25,2024 | EDITED : 09:02 PM,Feb 25,2024
Salim bin Mohammed al Mahrouqi, Minister of Heritage and Tourism, with Dr Bandar bin Fahd al Fuhaid, President of the Arab Tourism Organisation in Sur on Sunday.
Muscat: The Sur Maritime Heritage Festival began under the auspices of Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed al Saidi, Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs in Sur on Sunday. Salim bin Mohammed al Mahrouqi, Minister of Heritage and Tourism; Dr Bandar bin Fahd al Fuhaid, President of the Arab Tourism Organisation; Dr Yahya bin Badr al Maawali, Governor of Al Sharqiyah South, were present at the ceremony in the premises of University of Technology and Applied sciences, Sur.
The opening was also attended by under-secretaries, members of Council of Oman, governors, military and security commanders, heads of government departments, and members of the governorate’s municipal council.
Azzan bin Qasim al Busaidy, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism for Tourism, delivered a speech in which he said: “Regional and international initiatives and programmes provide a good approach to understanding and applying best practices for promoting tourist destinations and highlighting their competitive advantage, especially the Arab Tourism Capital Initiative launched by the Arab Tourism Organization. With its nine-standard frame of reference, it aims to understand tourism management, identify tourism resources and patterns, environmental conservation programmes, and be aware of the security and safety standards of the tourist destination to be nominated. So Sur is worthy of nomination for this initiative making optimal use of natural and cultural resources in developing tourism.
The wilayat is also unique in its pioneering maritime history, consisting of world heritage sites, natural oases, community initiatives, development projects, and tourism products that qualify it to be on the regional and international tourism map in the first place. This resulted in declaring Sur as the capital of Arab tourism for the year 2024.' Shaikh Dr Hilal bin Ali al Habsi, Wali of Sur and Chairman of the Festival Organizing Committee, the festival, which continues until March 9 includes a package of entertainment, promotional and cultural activities that have been developed to achieve a number of goals in line with the Oman Vision 2040.
He said the festival comes in celebration of the selection of Sur as the capital of Arab tourism for this year and constitutes a qualitative addition to the efforts to enrich domestic tourism and enable the governorates to fulfil their pioneering role in this framework.
Shaikh Dr Al Habsi said to avoid crowding the festival will be held in several locations, including Sunaysilah Fort, Khor Al Batah, Ras Al Hadd and Tiwi.
The wali said the festival includes new and diverse packages of heritage, tourism and entertainment events and activities, including a heritage village, a marine village, and an exhibition for productive families and small and medium enterprises, a honey and dates exhibition. The Sur Maritime Heritage Festival will have recreational and beach games, horse show, and boat race. It will also feature kite flying, paragliding, laser shows and other entertainment shows.
The opening was also attended by under-secretaries, members of Council of Oman, governors, military and security commanders, heads of government departments, and members of the governorate’s municipal council.
Azzan bin Qasim al Busaidy, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism for Tourism, delivered a speech in which he said: “Regional and international initiatives and programmes provide a good approach to understanding and applying best practices for promoting tourist destinations and highlighting their competitive advantage, especially the Arab Tourism Capital Initiative launched by the Arab Tourism Organization. With its nine-standard frame of reference, it aims to understand tourism management, identify tourism resources and patterns, environmental conservation programmes, and be aware of the security and safety standards of the tourist destination to be nominated. So Sur is worthy of nomination for this initiative making optimal use of natural and cultural resources in developing tourism.
The wilayat is also unique in its pioneering maritime history, consisting of world heritage sites, natural oases, community initiatives, development projects, and tourism products that qualify it to be on the regional and international tourism map in the first place. This resulted in declaring Sur as the capital of Arab tourism for the year 2024.' Shaikh Dr Hilal bin Ali al Habsi, Wali of Sur and Chairman of the Festival Organizing Committee, the festival, which continues until March 9 includes a package of entertainment, promotional and cultural activities that have been developed to achieve a number of goals in line with the Oman Vision 2040.
He said the festival comes in celebration of the selection of Sur as the capital of Arab tourism for this year and constitutes a qualitative addition to the efforts to enrich domestic tourism and enable the governorates to fulfil their pioneering role in this framework.
Shaikh Dr Al Habsi said to avoid crowding the festival will be held in several locations, including Sunaysilah Fort, Khor Al Batah, Ras Al Hadd and Tiwi.
The wali said the festival includes new and diverse packages of heritage, tourism and entertainment events and activities, including a heritage village, a marine village, and an exhibition for productive families and small and medium enterprises, a honey and dates exhibition. The Sur Maritime Heritage Festival will have recreational and beach games, horse show, and boat race. It will also feature kite flying, paragliding, laser shows and other entertainment shows.