By Nadia al Hinaei -
Going on a two-hour drive away from home to Sur to explore Wadi Tiwi and catch the waterfalls falling from a height of ten metres is just what Al Anood al Wahaibi needed after months in quarantine.
“After being in lockdown for so long, it was much needed to go for a staycation and a change in place and a new experience,” said Al Wahaibi.
“Getting to go for an adventure in-between nature was a remedy to my brain,” she added.
Due to the current travel restrictions, you’d probably have to park your vacation trips on hold till when it’s safer. However, traditional vacationing is not an ideal option under this pandemic. That is why the concept of staycations has become more popular.
“While in a staycation, you won’t bother to think of food or night stay, you can always go back home to sleep because you will be travelling somewhere new but close to your home. It is easier and cheaper”, says al Anood.
The pandemic has also driven people to become more cautious of their hygiene and the number of people they interact with physically. Staycations can make the perfect solution to this as you do not have to go through any airports or see countless travellers and tourists.
“I think many people turned to staycations because of the safety of themselves and their families”, said Al Wahaibi.
Staycations being more intimate and isolated make them the perfect activity that you can do outside your home during this pandemic as you can continue to stay safe yet be able to add a change of scenery to your lifestyle.
Social media users are not able to travel like before and capture fascinating photos of their trips abroad. Instead, they resort to exploring and capturing pictures of their hometowns. As a result, the pandemic has made staycations a trend amongst social media users.
Teepee Oman is a luxury camping service in Oman that was launched at the time the lockdown began in March of 2020. Their goal unexpectedly shifted to targeting local consumers because tourists from abroad were not able to come. This created a challenge for them to shift their strategy into targeting a whole new group of consumers.
However, they got an unexpected benefit from this as now locals are looking for different ways for an outing without having to travel and interact with people. Even though the campsites that Teepee sets up can be more expensive than a one-night stay in a cheap hotel, they believe that consumers will still choose them because of the experience that their campsites and services provide.
“People started travelling internally and we’re looking for something different,” said Omaima Mahmood, co-founder of Teepee Oman.
“People are looking for something that they can share with their friends on Instagram and other media means,” she added. This reaffirms the idea of staycations becoming popular now in the pandemic. Also, social media is a major world that can aid the formations of trends amongst users.
Nuzha is an Omani tour agency that organises outdoor trips for females only inside the Sultanate of Oman. They provide a range of outdoor activities for women. Co-founder Sara Saif discussed how a small area in Oman called Sidab which was not well-known before, became the new hiking hotspot in Muscat as many people began promoting their trips to Sidab online after some of the restrictions were eased.
“The lockdowns and curfews in Oman began to impact people mentally and made them want to go out more than ever,” said Sara.
Sara also emphasised how going on these staycations raises awareness about the importance of preserving cultural artefacts and the environment in the country. This is due to people exploring their country more than before hence wanting to preserve the beauty that they see.
The question now that is circulating is whether staycations will still be common when people can go back to traditional vacations. The benefits of staycations are not limited to the pandemic period only. Isolation is a great benefit, however, staycations can offer more than that.
Through staycations, people find out more about their home countries and this pandemic has shown people that you do not have to go far to have a vacation.
“People started to realise there are places to [explore] in their hometown,” said Al Wahaibi.
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