Tourism gets priority in Oman development

Oman is looking to attract close to 2 million foreign tourists in 2012 in a year its capital city Muscat has been designated as the Arab capital for tourism, a senior official at the Ministry of Tourism said here yesterday. "We are not looking at mass tourism. We are promoting Oman as a cultural and historical destination - a country which has mountains, desert and a long coastline. We are looking to attract high-end tourists," Haitham Mohammad Gasani, Director of Tourism Promotion at Oman's Ministry of Tourism, told reporters at a news conference. He added however, that their target for tourist arrivals could be affected if new troubles erupt in the Middle East. Gasani said Oman attracted 1.6 million tourists in 2011 with revenue from tourism comprising 2.6 per cent of Oman's gross domestic product (GDP). "By 2020 we have targeted tourism to contribute 3 per cent to our annual GDP," said Gasani. He said last year there were 11,000 hotel rooms available for occupancy and the number is set to rise this year with the opening of new hotels. Gasani said foreign tourists are mainly from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the UK, Germany and France. He said the Tourism Ministry has opened representative offices in the UK, Germany Italy, India and Australia to attract more visitors. In Russia and France, promotion is carried out by the Tourism Ministry officials posted at its embassies. Muscat has also set up representative offices to woo tourists from Scandinavia, the Benelux and GCC countries. "We [also] plan to showcase Muscat's various leisure, sports, travel and adventure attractions this year," said Gasani, adding the Tourism Ministry plans to build five more marinas by 2020 to provide greater support for local yachting activities.