Muscat, Nov 24 - Muscat National Development & Investment Company (ASAAS), one of Oman’s largest investment and real estate development firms, plans to add an inbound tour operating business to its diverse portfolio of investments. The new entity will be primarily tasked with driving international tourists and holidaymakers into Oman, thereby supplementing a tourism supply chain being developed by ASAAS in support of the Sultanate’s increasingly vibrant tourism industry, according to a top official.
“We are now forming a tour operating company that will (eventually) go overseas,” said Khalid al Yahmadi (pictured), CEO. “Right now, we are in negotiations to acquire an existing travel agency and tour operator in the country,” he said in remarks at a construction summit held here last week.
The new tour operating business, when up and running under the ASAAS banner, will add to a diverse portfolio of investments that presently include a budget airline (SalamAir), a mega entertainment and leisure destination in Barka (Hayy Al Sharq), hotel and retail projects, as well as healthcare, education and logistics ventures. Total investments in these developments are in the order of RO 1 billion.
Plans for the new travel outfit, said Al Yahmadi, are in line with ASAAS’s efforts to strengthen the tourism supply chain necessary to provide seamless services to the tourism industry.
“In order to ensure a tangible contribution from tourism to the national economy, we need to focus on developing the tourism supply chain; We cannot just keep investing in hotel projects without (developing other elements of the supply chain, such as) transportation services, tour operating companies, tour guiding services, and so on.”
To this end, the new tour operating firm will market the Sultanate to international tourists and offer holiday packages, thereby generating tourist inflows necessary to boost occupancy levels in hotels, and so on, he noted.
At some point in the future, the new firm will be relocated abroad to support Oman’s marketing as a holiday destination. It will also provide services as a General Sales Agent (GSA), he stated.
Set up by the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) with the support of nine other government bodies and state pension funds, ASAAS has aligned its investment vision with the government’s economic diversification strategy, said the CEO. However, any investments must be commercially viable and profitable, he pointed out. The investment group is also preparing to formally launch its first tourism related investment — the luxury 4-star Hilton Garden Inn in Al Khuwair, he added.
Conrad Prabhu
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