The Sultanate’s tourism sector, both domestic and international segments, has been on a steady rise thanks to the incessant efforts towards the sector in the wake of the tumultuous global oil prices and the national focus on diversification of national income.
Tourist arrivals in Oman averaged 259,7000 from 2015 until 2018 while the tourist arrivals increased to 394,000 in August from 236,000 in July 2018.
What makes Oman a tourist’s first choice of leisure is, first of all, the diversified natural attractions complemented by the hospitable people and ease of documentation, according to many travel experts. Additionally, the generous visa procedures and regulations too are major pullers of international tourists.
Complementing the ongoing strides in tourism, Oman skies will soon be hosting the first helicopter tourism by Q1 2019 and visitors will be able to see the beauty of the country from as high as some 3,000 feet.
Talks and approvals from the necessary authorities, preparations, and resources mobilisation are in their final stages and it won’t be long before the nation will put itself in the map for helicopter tourism.
“We are planning to open helicopter services to help give aviation tourism a boost as well as aid the state in aerial works for companies in oil and gas, telecommunications, agricultural sectors in a wide range of areas”, said Captain Wafid Jaffar, CEO, Al Sharqiya Aviation (ASA), a subsidiary of Mohammed al Barwani Group.
The initial investment of the helicopter services, initiated by ASA established in 2015, is RO 1.5 million and the services will be available for niche tourists between Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre to Jabal Akhdhar, Jabal Shams, hotels, resorts and other major tourist attractions of the country besides offering city tours, according to the chief executive.
The first service will kick off at the Muscat International Airport during the first quarter of 2019.
“Seeing Oman from thousands of feet above is a wonderful experience and only those who have seen the country from the sky can feel the adrenaline rush. Offering sky services for tourists is a sure bet to attract more visitors to Oman,” Jaffar said.
Additionally, the aviation tourism, which is a quite new market for Oman, will also cater to the needs of local companies for crew transport, load lifting and aerial surveillance besides catering to the cruise tourism which is surging by leaps and bounds.
Carrying visitors on board will be calculated in hours basis and instead of counting heads on board, total flying hours will be taken into account.
“We are in the final stages of obtaining the necessary certificates before we can go full-fledged. We will have two twin-engine choppers A350 with the seating capacity of 5 passengers plus one pilot. They will be on lease from a foreign company. Also, we are in talks with various airlines and tour operators, hotels and the like to cater to their guests”, he added.
An extensive feasibility study was carried out and the team is currently signing pacts with travel agents and tour operators to make use of the services for the inbound tourists.
City tours will be conducted at an altitude of 5,000 feet but depending upon the terrain, the altitude can be further rose to as high as 8,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea level. Many local youths can look forward to work in the aviation services area.
Initially, aviation tourism services will be offered to the city and outskirts, sooner, the services will be expanded to Nizwa, Sur, Sohar, Salalah and the like. However, helicopter landing services is a major challenge and hotels have been requested to provide helipad services to cater to their guests who want to have a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the city.
“We will also offer adventure tourism catering to those who love little bit ‘wow’ experience and tourists heading Oman will be able to book sky services online.”
All the need of aviation tourism, corporate needs of load transport and crew transport, were outsourced to a foreign company but with the arrival of the first aviation tourism company, the country will have all its needs met with the local tourism firm.
With the arrival of the much-awaited aviation tourism in the country, the tourism and aviation sectors are all set to take gigantic strides adding a two-digit growth to the local as well as international tourism.
The helicopters will not only benefit the tourism sector but including the country’s agricultural sector. The company eyes helping the national agricultural initiatives by providing aerial services to observe and fertilise crops as well as utilise some aircraft for insecticide spraying. These services are currently outsourced to foreign companies and with the arrival of commercialised aviation services, Oman can be self-reliant in these areas.
Kabeer Yousuf
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