Muscat - A selected group of forts and castles of historic and architectural value dotting Oman's landscape may be transformed into luxury heritage hotel properties in a move that would add to the sultanate's tourism potential.
Offering consultancy on the project will be Paradores Consultancy, an arm of Spain's prominent luxury hotel chain Paradores de Turismo de España which runs 94 hotels set in palaces, fortresses and historical buildings.
Oman is the first foreign destination where the state-owned establishment will be setting its foot. The business will run on the franchisee model, a path of expansion Paradores launched this year.
A report in the Spanish national daily ABC said that the Spanish government has designed a new business plan for the network and has set up a new entity, Paradores Consultancy.
"One of the first orders for the new establishment will be advising the Sultanate of Oman to launch its own chain of hotels set in historical buildings on the lines of Paradores hotels. The work is to start from September," it reported.
Oman and Spain had a few years ago signed a contract to conduct a comprehensive study on developing forts and castles into heritage-style hotels.
Taking this initiative forward, this April, a Spanish delegation accompanying King Juan Carlos I to Oman gave a detailed presentation on the study before senior officials from the ministries of Tourism and Heritage and Culture, and Omran.
In fact, King Carlos himself championed the Paradores brand during his visit.
In the presentation then, Zaballa Gómez, director general of Paradores, listed the forts and castles in Oman which could be chosen for the initiative, and had made recommendations on the suitability, advantages and disadvantages of each site, besides suggesting initiatives to ensure economic viability of the new hotels.
Also during this visit, an MoU with Spain was signed to draw a roadmap for viable tourism cooperation.
H E Ahmed bin Nasser bin Hamad al Mehrzi, Minister of Tourism who had signed the MoU with Jose Manuel Soria, Spain's Minister of Industry, had expressed hope to benefit from the Spanish experience in tourism development.
H E Mehrzi had said that the MoU would cover investment, exchange of visits and include forming a committee to lay down guidelines of further prospective cooperation. Apart from Oman, the company is in talks with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Morocco.
© Muscat Daily 2014
