The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) on Saturday held a ceremony at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel to officially mark the naming of Muscat as the Arab Tourism Capital for 2012, and called on stakeholders to take the responsibility of sustainable development as Oman's tourism grows.
The winner of the Muscat 2012 logo competition was announced at the event, which was presided over H E Sayyid Saud bin Hilal bin Hamad al Busaidi, the Minister of State and Governor of Muscat.
A year-long calendar of internationally significant arts, sports and cultural tourism events was also launched. There will be 15 events from January to March 2012.
H E Sheikh Abdulmalik bin Abdullah bin Ali al Khalili, the Minister of Tourism, said that the tourism sector was undergoing transformation with significant projects lined up."The year 2012 is the time to include sustainable principles in our thinking, planning and day-to-day operations," he said.
Muna Musallam al Mashani, a young creative designer from the governorate of Dhofar won the Muscat 2012 logo contest, which had received over 380 entries. Looking at this response, the ministry recently launched the Muscat 2012 photography competition.
"The ministry is delighted to follow the logo competition with the photography competition. The winning Muscat 2012 logo is very appealing and one that we will be proud to promote in Oman and internationally," H E Khalili said.
© Muscat Daily 2012
