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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Tourist spots geared up for Eid holiday rush

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Muscat: The stunning tourist spots all across the Sultanate are all set to receive tourists during the Eid al Fitr holidays. With the announcement of Eid Holidays and the succeeding weekend, the domestic tourism promotion department at the Ministry is expecting a decent rise the number of visitors.


"We have all reasons to expect the number of tourists to Oman's various local destinations for many reasons", says Saleh al Khaifi, Head of promotions, MoT said. Oman's numerous local tourist destinations are nothing short of a perfect holiday spot and the number of tourists being pulled to the charm and to the swashbuckling past are on the rise, he said.


The movement of both Omani nationals and residents too has been on the rise, especially after some of the castles and forts went for major facelifts and additional amenities were established at important tourist spots. In February this year, 297,000 tourists visited Oman against 282,000 in January while Oman recorded an average of 267,000 tourist arrivals a month between 2015 and 2019, touching an all-time high of 466,000 in October of 2018.


According to al Khaifi, Oman’s unique coastline, rugged mountains, well-maintained lakes, parks and beaches, forts and castles of historic importance, and beautiful landscapes, all in one frame are a big attraction to both indigenous and alien tourists.


"We have been foucsing on developing Oman's places with moderate temperatures in order to be a destination for round the year. These places include Dhofar region, Jabal Shams, Jabal Akdher, Al Hamra, Wadi bani Khalid, Wakan, and the like which will offer a perfect holiday for the yearning tourists", Al Khaifi said.


The recently reopened Bayt al Rudaydah Castle is hosting a "Traditional Weapons Exhibition", in Birkat al Mouz at A'Dakhiliyah Governorate for visitors. Where, in the first phase, it is open 5 days a week, from Wednesday to Sunday, 9am to 4pm. The Bayt Rudaydah Castle was open to the public in April this year after closing for months for necessary maintenance works.


Additionally, maintenance of trekking paths in the Western and Eastern Hajar Mountains covering Governorates’ of Muscat, A'Dhakilya, Sharqiya North and South is currently underway which too will be another attraction to the tourists. Accordingly, trekking paths of more than 100 km length have been under maintenance and development in order to attract tourists. They wl also be developing and maintaining paths to a standard suitable for a wilderness /semi wilderness setting.


"We will also be installing large signboards that shows trail map with contour lines and coloured layers indicating heights, cliff faces, elevation section of the trail, new and old villages or areas of habitation, marked and unmarked walking paths, road network indicating the standard of roads and vehicle tracks, and points of interest in order to assist the trekkers", adds he.


The permanent exhibition of Mirbat castle, based on a modular exhibition system to accommodate expository solutions to show artifacts, models, objects, photographs and interpretation panels has been a major crowd puller towards the Dhofar region, besides its charming landscape.


Aiming at global tourists, the audio guides are made available in 10 different languages, besides Arabic. They include English, Spanish, German, Russian, French, Italian, Chinese, Hindi and Urdu. "Most of these renovated and maintained tourist spots have all basic amenities for both male and female tourists, wash rooms, super markets, feeding rooms, and the like", Al Khaifi added.


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