11 February 2014
Muscat: The annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) roadshow arrives in Muscat today at the City Seasons Hotel, bringing together key industry players to discuss marketing opportunities to showcase Oman's tourism ambitions.
Oman is raising awareness of its tourism-related developments at this year's Arabian Travel Market, where exhibitors will include the Oman Ministry of Tourism, Oman Airways and for the first time, Muriya Tourism Development.
Developing new hotels and resorts and bringing them to market is one of Oman's top priorities.
A number of large-scale transport infrastructure developments will be coming to fruition over the next few years at a cost in excess of $50 billion. This was demonstrated by figures from global research company Aranca, which revealed that as of July 2013, Oman had the largest growth in its active hotel development pipeline of all the Middle East and North African countries, up 59.9 per cent on July 2012, with 4,577 rooms.
"Oman is a country with a fine-tuned vision for its tourism industry and is forging ahead with plans to build a premium destination targeted at discerning travellers," said Mark Walsh, portfolio director at the Reed Travel Exhibitions.
The hospitality sector has already rolled out a number of properties in the recent past, across Oman including the Best Western Premier Hotel in Muscat, the Holiday Inn Muscat, Salalah Rotana Resort in the Dhofar province, the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Duqm and niche resorts in Omran, at Khasab (Musandam) and Jebel Al Akhdar.
Contribution to GDP
Maitha Al Mahrouqi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman, expects hotels and restaurants to contribute 5 per cent of Oman's GDP by 2020, with the tourism sector's total contribution reaching a 'much higher figure.'
A World Economic Forum (WEF) report claims Oman's travel and tourism industry was worth an estimated $2.11 billion in 2012 and anticipates average growth of 5.2 per cent between 2013 and 2022.
"Predicted growth of the tourism sector could be modest given the raft of projects pipelined and the rapid development of Oman's aviation sector, with national carrier Oman Air expanding its route network plus regional operators such as Air Arabia, flydubai and Qatar Airways adding more flights to Muscat and Salalah," added Walsh.
Targeting international visitors is high on the agenda for Oman Air, which plans to go double-daily on its Muscat-London route and branch out into other medium- and long-haul markets when new A330 and B787 aircraft are delivered, taking its total fleet size to 50 by 2017. To cater for a surge in travellers visiting the Sultanate, a new $1.8 billion passenger terminal is under construction at Muscat airport, boosting its capacity from six to 12 million passengers annually.
Arabian Travel Market 2014 will take place between May 5 and 8 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Last year, ATM welcomed over 21,000 visitors from 165 countries.
Muscat: The annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) roadshow arrives in Muscat today at the City Seasons Hotel, bringing together key industry players to discuss marketing opportunities to showcase Oman's tourism ambitions.
Oman is raising awareness of its tourism-related developments at this year's Arabian Travel Market, where exhibitors will include the Oman Ministry of Tourism, Oman Airways and for the first time, Muriya Tourism Development.
Developing new hotels and resorts and bringing them to market is one of Oman's top priorities.
A number of large-scale transport infrastructure developments will be coming to fruition over the next few years at a cost in excess of $50 billion. This was demonstrated by figures from global research company Aranca, which revealed that as of July 2013, Oman had the largest growth in its active hotel development pipeline of all the Middle East and North African countries, up 59.9 per cent on July 2012, with 4,577 rooms.
"Oman is a country with a fine-tuned vision for its tourism industry and is forging ahead with plans to build a premium destination targeted at discerning travellers," said Mark Walsh, portfolio director at the Reed Travel Exhibitions.
The hospitality sector has already rolled out a number of properties in the recent past, across Oman including the Best Western Premier Hotel in Muscat, the Holiday Inn Muscat, Salalah Rotana Resort in the Dhofar province, the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Duqm and niche resorts in Omran, at Khasab (Musandam) and Jebel Al Akhdar.
Contribution to GDP
Maitha Al Mahrouqi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman, expects hotels and restaurants to contribute 5 per cent of Oman's GDP by 2020, with the tourism sector's total contribution reaching a 'much higher figure.'
A World Economic Forum (WEF) report claims Oman's travel and tourism industry was worth an estimated $2.11 billion in 2012 and anticipates average growth of 5.2 per cent between 2013 and 2022.
"Predicted growth of the tourism sector could be modest given the raft of projects pipelined and the rapid development of Oman's aviation sector, with national carrier Oman Air expanding its route network plus regional operators such as Air Arabia, flydubai and Qatar Airways adding more flights to Muscat and Salalah," added Walsh.
Targeting international visitors is high on the agenda for Oman Air, which plans to go double-daily on its Muscat-London route and branch out into other medium- and long-haul markets when new A330 and B787 aircraft are delivered, taking its total fleet size to 50 by 2017. To cater for a surge in travellers visiting the Sultanate, a new $1.8 billion passenger terminal is under construction at Muscat airport, boosting its capacity from six to 12 million passengers annually.
Arabian Travel Market 2014 will take place between May 5 and 8 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Last year, ATM welcomed over 21,000 visitors from 165 countries.
© Times of Oman 2014
