As part of Oman's National Tourism Strategy, private sector participation is crucial in tourism development. More investments out of such participation will be implemented in future in alignment with Oman Vision 2040, according to Oman Investment Authority (OIA).
Investments from both local and international stakeholders will make a paradigm shift in the tourism scenario where building experiences will be the buzzword, according to Dr Lubna al Mazroei (pictured), Tourism Manager for Economic Diversification Investments at Oman Investment Authority.
"Tourists seek unique experiences, and we are creating avenues for experiences around natural sites as well as help them understand our forts and castles and our stories, the historical value behind them and all-round efforts are on," she said on the sidelines of a tourism event held in the city.
"We are marketing our unspoiled nature, rich heritage and culture, and we are trying to build experiences around the natural wonders that we have," she said.
However, she admitted lacking in many things.
"To build experiences around the tourism attractions, Omani foods are of great international demand and many people look for our culinary tradition of the Sultanate of Oman and try Omani dishes and the like." According to her, one of the things that Oman is doing is to get people to know about the different natural destinations that the country has and to develop a grand tour where guests can visit different natural spots, and the tourism authorities are working very closely with the private sector towards this.
"Previously, the private sector had played a lot in the tourism growth with DMCs and hotels and so on. Now, we want to leverage this to empower more of the private sector to grow, and we are doing so as many of the investments that we are launching in the days to come to have private sector and international investors alongside local investors, who are willing to come aboard Oman tourism," Dr Lubna added.
Through such participation and collaborations, OIA is helping the private sector grow.
There are efforts to build more accommodations, amenities and facilities to support tourists travelling to natural destinations, deserts, turtle reserves, etc.; building and promoting these clusters is paramount.
"We at OIA are working very closely with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism as Omran group is of great support, and we are looking to divert the investments, and we work very closely with the stakeholders. Oman's tourism future is very bright, and we have Oman National Tourism Strategy, in line with the Oman Vision 2040, where we target the extensive promotion of the country." She hoped that in the next five years, Oman could expect many pipeline projects in various governorates of Oman. New destinations are coming in other governorates besides Muscat and Dhofar governorates.
"We will be welcoming more tourists in the coming days with the new tourists looking for more unique experiences, more culturally different experiences is our forte.
Private sector participation is crucial for tourism development and for achieving tourism goals. All we have to do is build upon what we have. We don't have to man-make anything but build to gain a competitive advantage over them. Oman tourism can complement the regional demand for tourism," Dr Lubna added.
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