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Feature - Middle East tourism; not an oxymoron

Oman is seeking to introduce ‘controlled’ tourism; backpackers need not apply

When we think of the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, the first places that come to mind are undoubtedly Iraq, Iran, Israel or Saudi Arabia. Chances are many of us envision Gulf War soldiers, suicide bombings, bearded terrorists, or bleak desert landscapes. The last thing one would imagine is choosing this region as a holiday destination.

When I first announced to my friends that I was spending my holidays in Oman, I was met with looks of disbelief and confusion, especially since the majority of them had no clue where Oman was even located. My family was worried that I would be killed or imprisoned in a foreign jail.

Their reaction seemed justified, since the mass media daily depicts this area with images of violence, death and stories of anger towards the West. These same thoughts went through my head as I sat in transit in London’s Heathrow Airport, watching the Madrid bombings unfolding across the British news stands.

While many Middle Eastern nations are focusing their efforts on oil-led wars or bombings, Oman is welcoming foreign tourists to explore its picturesque beaches and desert landscapes. This small, virtually unknown Arab country, officially called the Sultanate of Oman, forms the second largest country in the Middle East and is quickly becoming the vacation "gem" of the region. The Muslim-dominated country borders Yemen to the south, and both Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the northwest, overlooking the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman.

The fact that the Sultanate of Oman has long been isolated from the outside world is not surprising, considering that Oman neither sought nor welcomed visitors for the longest time.

Oman is a small nation of 2.5 million people, of whom 25 per cent are expatriates, mostly from Europe and the Indian subcontinent. Oman’s colourful past has included foreign invasions from the Persians, the Iraqis, the Mongols, and the Turks. Its people are of Arab origin, with the majority being Ibadi Muslims; others are Sunni and Shia. Omani society consists of seafaring people and agriculturalists of the Batinah Coast, while the interior consists of the mountain people of Dhofar and Musandam, and the Bedouins of the desert areas.

Oman was once at the hub of the frankincense trade route, and prospered mainly from its trade in slaves, gold, dates and spices. Oman also has the distinction of being the only Arab country with influences in Africa, having ruled parts of East Africa and Zanzibar.

These historical influences have made the country a focal point between East and West; the sultanate maintains strong ties with both the United States and United Kingdom.

Oman achieved independent rule in 1650 – something that has withstood to this day. Oman is considered the oldest sovereign Arab state in existence, and blends unique aspects of Arab, Indian and Chinese cultural influences.

Oman did not enter the petroleum market until 1967 – quite late by Gulf Country standards – but when it did so it realized that its oil reserves were finite resources. The sultanate decided to target tourism, with its untapped potential, as its major revenue generator in years to come. Oil production which provides half of Oman’s GDP, is expected to last only 20 to 25 years at the current reserve estimates.

The focus on tourism is a major about face for Oman. Sultan Said bin Taimur ruled the Sultanate of Muscat (later renamed the country of Oman) from 1932 to 1970 under strict isolationist policies. He refused to use wealth obtained from oil reserves to improve the living conditions for its people and ran the country erratically. He even prohibited the wearing of eyeglasses, punished those who appeared in his dreams, and personally handed out visas to every visitor entering his country.

But in 1970, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said staged a coup, overthrowing his father and exiling him to the United Kingdom. When Sultan Qaboos took control, the sultanate had a mere five kilometres of paved roads, a total of three schools and no electricity.

In one of the most rapid economic transformations ever seen in the world, the Sultan introduced healthcare, education, transportation and telecommunications to even the most remote parts of the country. Oman topped the World Health Organization’s list for health system efficiency and ranked eighth for its overall healthcare facilities – higher than the USA.

Unlike his father, Sultan Qaboos is highly respected and admired by the Omani people and the world community in his "benevolent dictatorship" or Absolute Monarchy.

A selective approach to tourism

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has taken a unique and selective approach in its tourism strategy, using what it calls "controlled" or respectful tourism. It has pledged that economic growth would not come at the expense of Oman’s culture or traditional customs. In many ways, the ministry wants to avoid the same mistakes made by other emerging and developing countries that turned to mass tourism to boost lagging economies. In the process, many of those countries have lost sight of their cultural identities and degraded natural areas.

Oman’s rapid tourism development has been orderly and carefully planned, striving to maintain a balance between "modernization and tradition."

When Oman discreetly opened its doors for tourism in 2000, the hotel prices were indicative of Oman’s intention of catering only to elite visitors. Backpackers need not apply. As such, the country offers very little infrastructure for thrifty travellers and offers no budget accommodation or public transit.

During my meeting with the Mr. Mohammed Ali Said, the Director General of Tourism, the reasons for this type of tourism development became quite obvious. He outlined his tourism policy and said that "backpackers ruin the environment and bring drugs with them. They lose site of our culture and heritage, and we are not interested in having them here."

Mr. Said also added, "we are aiming at the upper market tourism and looking to minimize mass tourism. We want to attract people that will appreciate the local people, value our culture and the history of our place and its beautiful environment."

Oman is aiming to develop an effective tourism policy that brings together the objectives of nature conservation, environmental protection, and quality of life for its citizens. This development strategy has been tried by many countries, but has not met with much success.

Oman’s tourism officials have recently started marketing and actively targeting visitors from Germany, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Russia and Japan. The Ministry of Commerce is developing a strategy that remains consistent with what is being offered to the tourists. Their main marketing strategy focuses on promoting Oman as only one of two sultanates in the world, the other being Brunei.

Oman’s new tourism strategy "Vision 20/20" has the following objectives:

• To increase the tourism sector of the GDP from its current 1 per cent to 3 per cent by 2020;

• To increase the level of employment of Omani nationals in the tourism sector from the current 37 per cent to 85 per cent by 2020;

• To be responsible for the promotion and marketing of Oman as a tourist destination.

Oman saw its fledgling tourist industry take a hard blow after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States and recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For example, the Hilton Hotel in Salalah in southern Oman experienced a 55 per cent drop in tour businesses after 9/11.

As a direct result of these events the Ministry of Commerce has become doubly aggressive in marketing the country as a leisure destination. Due to the unrest in much of the Gulf region, Oman has become a popular destination for neighbouring Arabs and expatriates who are nervous about travelling abroad.

Boosting tourism after 9/11

In their continuing efforts to boost the tourism economy in Oman, officials have recently put several measures into place to encourage people to visit their country.

In February 2003 the sultanate finally eased visa restrictions to nationals of 68 countries. It was no longer necessary to obtain "non-objection certificates".

A 30-day visitor visa costs about $20 Cdn. and can be purchased directly at Seeb International Airport in Muscat. The figures for 1999 show that more than 150,000 were handed out and about 500,000 foreign visitors came to Oman.

As part of its new marketing strategy, Oman teamed up with Dubai in the UAE, since the countries are a direct complement to one another. Dubai offers tourists shopping and nightlife, while Oman offers nature and endless culture. The two countries have introduced a new visitor visa that allows visitors who land in either country to travel to the other country.

However, despite Oman’s attempts to make things more convenient for visitors, tourists should still expect delays. After my long overnight flight from London to Muscat, I endured an almost two-hour wait to purchase some local currency (Rial) and a second lineup to purchase my visitor visa – even before entering customs.

But while some aspects of Omani tourism still need to be improved, other aspects are leading edge. A $260 million US upgrade of Seeb International Airport, for instance, was recently approved. And Oman’s two national airlines, Oman Air and Gulf Air, recently upgraded their fleets and flight offerings. The airlines now offer Sky Nanny – the first on-board nanny service – and even in-flight chefs. These two airlines are adding new routes and offer daily flights to London and Frankfurt.

On the ground, the government is focusing its efforts on building self-contained resort hotels in a desire to minimize impact on local culture. Attention is also focused on the promotion of adventure tourism, eco-tourism, cultural attractions, and leisure resorts. Oman is seeing a surge in tour specialists, destination travel management companies and adventure specialists who sense the tremendous tourism potential of this region.

The government is undertaking several grand projects in the hopes that it will position Oman on the global tourism map. The country currently has 6,000 beds but is aiming to increase this number to 10,000 by 2010. (Whistler, by contrast, currently has 46,500 beds.) Hotel room occupancy in Oman has more than doubled in the last four years.

"The Wave" is an $805 million US project that includes a marina, a golf course, hotels and luxury residential units. This resort will cover 7.25 kilometres of beachfront and involves the reclamation of 400,000 square metres of land. An 18-hole golf course will be maintained using water generated from the hotel’s ultra modern wastewater discharge unit.

The Shangri-La’s new Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa, to be completed in 2005, will house 700 rooms. This exclusive project will offer three hotels, with two of the hotels connected by a "lazy river" which will allow visitors to float to the other hotel in an inner tube. The hotel complex will be entirely self-contained with its own desalination plant, power substation, waste treatment facility and laundry facilities.

The capital

Muscat, the capital is a relaxed, cosmopolitan centre. Originally, I had expected the religious police to be everywhere, imposing penalties on anyone drinking alcohol. That was not the case. Although Omanis are governed by different laws, alcohol was relatively easy to access, especially in licensed bars attached to hotels. Surprisingly, I found myself celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at Feenie’s pub and drinking a pint of Guiness with two Arab men. Bagpipes played in the background.

In another instance, while shopping at the local mall, I spotted a baseball cap sporting a cannabis leaf design. I pointed it out to my friend and he just laughed and said, "Don’t worry. No one here even knows what that means." I found that hard to believe, especially in a country where drug possession brings severe punishment or the death penalty.

Oman is also quite liberal when it comes to women’s rights. Unlike Saudi Arabia, where women cannot work, drive or vote, women here are free to engage in all three and are represented in both the upper and lower houses of government.

The locals are very friendly and I was surprised to find that people don’t live in compounds or segregated communities, like we hear about in Saudi Arabia.

The Omani people are quick to embrace other cultures. Ironically you can find many Western institutions in Oman. For example, Starbucks, Marks and Spencer and McDonald’s can be spotted in most urban centres. They even celebrate Stampede Days (in March, to avoid the intense summer heat) for the Canadians working in oil-related industries.

The culture of the land

But Oman has also made great strides in ensuring that age-old customs and traditions are documented and passed on to future generations. The country’s past isolation from the world had one positive effect: crafts and traditions were shielded from the effects of modernization and mass production. As a result, there is now the possibility of exporting Oman’s craft products to the other Gulf states, since those countries have few remaining crafts of their own.

In 2006, Muscat will be officially designated as UNESCO’s "cultural capital" of the Arab region.

The sultanate’s ancient sites have also been granted protected status by UNESCO and five of them are now listed as World Heritage sites, including:

• The Fort and Oasis at Bahla

• The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary

• The tower tombs at Bat and Wadi Al-Ayn

• The ancient Frankincense route of southern Oman

• Unique natural habitat of Wadi Daika that house the frankincense trees.

The countryside is scattered with more than 500 forts and castles, spanning over 400 years of history. Many of Oman’s forts are being renovated and turned into cultural attractions.

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat covers some 40,000 square metres and the interior includes a 263-square metre prayer carpet that covers the prayer hall floor and took four years to make. The central chandelier, hanging from the mosque’s highest point, is 14 metres in height, eight metres across, with 1,122 lights and a weight of eight tonnes. Non-Muslims are now allowed to visit the mosque. Women need to cover themselves at all times while in the mosque.

The introduction of festivals, such as the annual Muscat Festival in the capital and the Shareef Festival celebrated in Salalah, have attracted large number of tourists from neighbouring Gulf states to Oman.

The country is also a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts. With more than 1,700 km of pristine coastline, the country offers visitors diverse landscapes and experiences, ranging from desert to tropical seaside resorts. Oman, surprisingly, is not as flat as I thought; the sharp peaks of the Jabal Akhdar Mountains rise to over 3,000 metres.

Oman offers world-class diving, fishing, clean beaches, rock climbing, desert camping and caving in a safe environment. Oman is a spelunker’s dream place, being home to Majlis al Jinn, the second largest cave chamber in the world.

Off-road enthusiasts can indulge in wadi-bashing, which involves exploring dry river beds in rugged four-wheel drives, or witness the annual journey of marine turtles to beaches in Ras Al Hadd, Ras Al Junayz and Massirah Islands.

Unlike British Columbia, where permits are required, you can pitch a tent wherever you want in the Omani countryside.

To service this expected growth in tourism Oman is taking a different approach from many of its neighbours. While many Arab countries outsource their work or import cheaper labour, there’s a strong drive towards "Omanization" – hiring Omanis over expatriates. Conrad Prabhu of the Oman Observer said "Tourism is seen as a key vehicle for achieving the Sultanate’s economic diversification and employment generation goals. ‘Omanization’, currently pegged at over 50 per cent, is targeted at 85 per cent by 2020."

Currently, expatriates are unable to own property, but authorities are planning to issue limited freehold properties within the sultanate in coming years.

The push to develop tourism in Oman is certainly driven by the need to develop a long-term, sustainable industry, but there could be an additional benefit. Given the present unrest in certain areas of the Middle East, controlled and safe tourism might work to preserve the Arabic culture and traditional life, while at the same time exposing Westerners to the Middle East and helping reverse the misconceptions of the Middle East as unsafe. It’s a huge challenge, but one Oman and the Western world may need to take on.

Oman Tidbits

• Frankincense, an aromatic resin produced by trees and used as incense, was more valued than gold 2,000 years ago.

• "Amouage" an Omani perfume is the most valuable fragrance in the world.

• An Emirate has a sheikh, while a Sultanate has a king.

• Sinbad the Sailor was supposedly led by an Omani Sailor.

• 50 per cent of Oman’s population is currently under the age of 16.

Websites to Visit:

www.mocioman.gov.om/tourism

www.omantourism.gov.om

www.destinationoman.com



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