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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Tourism Ministry plans e-Concierge smartphone app for Oman

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Oman’s Ministry of Tourism is planning to launch a smartphone app designed to make it easier for international tourists to access hotel properties, tourist attractions and related service providers, among other aspects of the Sultanate’s increasing diverse tourism product.


As a first step, the ministry has floated an international tender inviting specialist firms to develop a new smartphone app, dubbed ‘e-Concierge’. Interested bidders have until November 15 to submit firm offers in this regard.


The e-Concierge platform is based on proposals emerging from the Tourism Labs conducted by the National Programme for Enhancing Economic Diversification (Tanfeedh) last year. “e-Concierge is being developed and will be merged with global systems to increase the number of tourists in the Sultanate and connect them with services,” said Tanfeedh’s Implementation & Follow-up Unit in a tweet.


“The app will offer accommodation and transportation services, an Omani events calendar, (access to ) renowned local tour guides, and more,” it noted.


An earlier initiative by Tanfeedh envisioned a role for the proposed Oman Tourism & Convention Bureau in the management and operation of the e-Concierge platform. Part of the proposed bureau’s mandate is to employ interactive marketing to promote and market various aspects of the Sultanate’s tourism sector. However, its primary responsibility will be to focus on opportunities for convention tourism in the Sultanate.


Adopted by leading tourism destinations around the world, the e-Concierge app is designed to help all manner of tourists — local, regional and international — navigate through a multitude of options encompassing hotel accommodation, restaurants and clubs, shopping malls, tourist attractions, leisure and amusement spots, airlines and charters, car rentals, tour guides, music and entertainment offerings, and so on.


Plugged into popular global tourism portals, the e-Concierge platform will help attract interested international tourists to look at attractions in the Sultanate, and identify hotels and resorts that suit their wallets.


Besides serving as a digital alternative to a printed tourism guide, the e-Concierge app will enable tourists to make bookings online, plan and confirm their complete itineraries while in Oman, make payments online, and generally personalise their holidays.


Conrad Prabhu


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