DRMumbai: The Ministry of Tourism of the Sultanate of Oman conducted a three-city Oman Roadshow 2018 across Mumbai, New Delhi and Ahmedabad in October to promote the country as a weddings, adventure and MICE destination. The delegation was led by Maitha Saif Al Mahrouqi, Under Secretary of Ministry of Tourism, who is also a board member of Oman Air. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman and Sunil V A, Regional Vice President – India Sub-continent (ISC), Oman Air were also present. “The new simplified visa regime is online and delivered in 48 hours for Indian travellers holding US, UK, Schengen, Australia or Japan visa. The fee has been slashed recently by 75 per cent and now costs just OMR 5 for a 10-day visit visa. This should really help large groups, FITs and business travellers,” said Al Mahrouqi, who is on her maiden visit to India. The roadshow saw participation of 14 partners from Oman including hoteliers, DMCs and wedding & MICE planners.
Oman is very conscious of its carrying capacity and not looking at mass tourism. It has limited infrastructure and inventory to offer tourists.
In 2017, Oman welcomed 3,21,000 Indian visitors, 7.9 per cent more than the previous year. In H1 2018, arrivals from India climbed 15.48 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2017. The Sultanate hopes to maintain the momentum and close the year with a 20 per cent growth. Tourism contributes less than 10 per cent to GDP.
Earlier this year the new Muscat International Airport, the single largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in Oman, opened to visitors enhancing the travel experience to the Sultanate by many notches. The new airport can presently handle 20 million passengers annually and as per a planned phase-wise expansion will be able to manage 48 million passengers when completed.
“Our mission in India is to create visibility and awareness for Oman as a high quality leisure destination,” said Sheerazi who is also COO of Blue Square Consultants, which represents Ministry of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman in India. “Our focus is on niche, well-travelled and evolved Indian visitors. Travellers who would appreciate Oman’s authenticity, diversity, natural beauty and world class adventure options.”
Since 2010, the Sultanate has focused on key source markets in India like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai. Much later, cities like Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad were included for trade activities like roadshows, webinars, sales missions and FAMs.
Oman is bullish about promoting itself as a high-end destination for weddings and adventure. The Sultanate is blessed generously with natural beauty – 3000 km coastline, pristine blue waters, mountains, deserts, lush greenery and wadis amidst modern cities like Muscat, offering excellent backdrops for weddings. More and more Indians are taking the short haul flight to celebrate their weddings, reunions, anniversaries and birthday parties in Oman. “Oman hosted 100 plus destination weddings last year,” informs Sheerazi. “We have seen groups ranging from 300 to 1100 pax per event.”
When it comes to real adventure, Oman tops the game in the region offering multiple avenues for trekking, scuba diving, snorkeling, camping, self-drive, biking, cycling, you name it.
With the opening of the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) near the Muscat International Airport in 2016 and the recent setting up of the Oman Convention Bureau, the Sultanate has indicated its seriousness to pursue MICE business. “We have many bookings till 2019,” asserts Sheerazi. “We started with leisure and adventure but now we have the infrastructure and institutional framework to deliver MICE.”
While many new international hotel chains have recently opened in Oman, the fully-integrated OCEC precinct pretty much takes care of every MICE traveller’s needs – five expo halls, 20 additional meeting rooms, two-tier auditorium that can seat 2000 plus pax; 55 meeting spaces in all. The district will host three hotels, including the recently opened four-star Crowne Plaza with 96 keys and the five-star JW Marriott which is coming up soon with 300 keys.
