TOURISM IN OMAN Oman is one of the most attractive travel destinations in the Middle East, a country that combines

luxurious comfort and safety amidst rugged mountains, panoramic beaches, and striking desert scapes. Oman is located on the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula and has an area of approximately 309,500km. It is bordered on the west by Saudi Arabia, to the northwest lie the United Arab Emirates and to the southwest is Yemen. The east coast meets with the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. The capital of Oman is Muscat, a cosmopolitan, but relaxed city, free from the hustle and bustle found in many of Arabias other capital cities. In the south of the Sultanate, is Salalah, the administrative capital of the Dhofar region.

The Omani people are friendly and welcoming to visitors. Although Arabic is their main language, English is spoken frequently and is often used as the lingua franca. Despite their relaxed air, the Omanis are quite conservative people and respect for their privacy and, in particular, their religion should always be observed. The Omani people care for the tourists and they welcome them with great honor. The tourists, because of their simplicity and good character always like Omani people. Modesty is the keyword in how to dress. Women should wear loose, long garments, ensuring that their shoulders and knees are covered. Men should wear long trousers and tops with sleeves. Swimming costumes are fine for the beach or the pool. During the holy month of Ramdhan, all Muslims fast during the hours of daylight.

Oman is being the most attracted countries in the world by the tourists with its mindblowing tourist attractions. Oman has vast deserts, in which the tourists love to do camping, beautiful beaches for swimming and fishing, forts and castles that represents

the ancient history of Oman and old souqs for shopping of traditional Omani things. The Sultanate has many beautiful cities, parks and gardens in which the tourists can enjoy cruising all the time. There are very beautiful wadis where one can find fresh water and it is a very beautiful and calm place for the visitors to rest in. Muscat being the capital city of Oman is highly attracted by tourists with its beautiful n luxurious 5 star hotels, Dhofar and Salalah, which are well known for its greenery and good climate, Musandam, ADhahira, Al-Batinah, ADakhliyah, Al-Wusta, and AlSharqiya. All these places are full with ancient monuments and beautiful places.

The Sultanate holds the history of being one of the beautiful tourist attractions with its ancient histories and crafts. There are various beautiful things to see in Oman

especially, the traditional Arabic market place is called the souq and these are found in many of the towns throughout the Sultanate. One of the oldest preserved souqs in Oman is in Muttrah, on the Corniche. Gold and silver jewellery is found in abundance as well as numerous wooden carvings, ornaments and spices. Muttrah souq is a maze of pathways leading in and out of each other.

The Ministry of Sultanate of Oman has made a lot of efforts to improve the process of tourism. The ministries have taken several measures to improve and encourage the tourism. The citizens of Oman too love encouraging tourism and they get to know the people from different countries. The ministry has invested in building luxurious hotels for the tourists to rest in, cleaning the city and beaches for the tourists. The citizens also helps a lot for the tourists by giving facilities of car rentals and guiding them to cruise across Oman. The ministry has made its best efforts to encourage

tourism and has several future plans to improve the level of tourism and to service the best for the tourists.

Omans development plan concerning tourism is focused on attracting foreign investment in projects such as hotels, golf courses, and theme parks. This industry offers a variety of employment opportunities for a rapidly expanding Omani workforce, but is dependent on developing education and training institutions to support growth. Visa restrictions on tourists were eased starting in 1987 as the Omani government has sought to slowly expand tourist numbers as infrastructure and facilities are expanded to meet increased demand. At first only business travellers and tourists on expensive package tours were allowed in. The government does not want budget travellers who they feel will alter the culture by not observing the conservative laws and customs of the region. The current limit on tourists is set at 50,000 a year, but the government plans to expand that number to 100.000 in ten years, and 728,000 by 2020. All of this must be accomplished while balancing Omans delicate environment. Only 1% of Omans land is under cultivation and resources such as water and land must be used wisely.

The latest project would include The Wave project, which is one of the biggest project of tourism in Oman. The other mega projects of Oman include Muriya Tourism Development unveiled Tuesday a two billion dollar project in Jebel Sifah and Salalah Beach that is set to put the Sultanate on the regions tourism map. Efforts are also being made to open up investments in various resort projects similar to the Wave, Muscat and Blue City in Barka, where employment of Omani youths will be key.

The Sultanate is a leading example of a country that has used its capital from oil and injected it into building the countrys infrastructure to provide for its flourishing leisure and business tourism. The Ministry of Tourism has increased international exposure in assured markets and its influence will attract a large number of tourists.

The hotel industry of Oman has undergone streamlining due to the introduction of minimum room rates last year. Nevertheless this has not impeded the year-on-year continual success of the Al Bustan Palace, otherwise identified as the Jewel of the Sultanate of Oman. The propitious on-going efforts achieved by the Ministry of Tourism in promoting the Sultanate as a tourist destination has increased the popularity of Oman within the tourism business.

New and diverse hotel products such as the Chedi and Shangri La are increasing the potential for attracting many new niche markets to the destination. Creation of the Ministry of Tourism and the subsequent appointment of Destination Marketing Agents in major markets (UK, Germany & France) have raised the awareness of Oman tremendously in customers minds.

The main factors that are facilitating the growth of tourism sector are that the tourist destinations and attractions within Oman, rapid extension of the tourism projects and the products and services that are offered by the tourism companies of Oman and the hospitality provided by the people of Oman towards the visitors.

Conclusion Finally it can be said that tourism is now one of the worlds biggest industries in Oman and will continue to grow in importance over the coming years. The Ministry of Tourism believes that tourism has a significant role to play in Omans future prosperity and enhancing the quality of life for local residents. Tourism can create jobs, generate spending, stimulate business activity, support local amenities and conservation, and add to the vitality and attractiveness of places. On the other hand, tourism can bring problems in its wake, contributing to congestion and causing damage to sensitive areas and disruption to local communities. Tourism must be properly managed, therefore, if its full potential is to be realized.

Tourism is the key factor for the economic growth of the nation. Tourism should be encouraged and must be improved a lot for the betterment of the tourists. The Sultanate should open new tourists spots and build new hotels, which should be reasonable and luxurious for the tourists. Tourism is the easiest way to expose the country and the resources of the country to the other world so it should be encouraged and improved.

References Sarmento, M. (2000). Total Quality Management: Tourism Industry PHD Thesis, Instituto Superior Tcnico, Lisbon. Pearce, P.; Morrison, A.M. and Rutledge, J.L. (1998). Tourism: Bridges across continents. Sydney: McGraw-Hill, Chapter 2, 'Motivational influences in tourism demand'.

 Aguilo, E. (1996) Research into policies on tourism. Tourist Review. 51(1), pp.12-17. Baum, T. (1994) The development and implementation of national tourism policies. Tourism Management. http://www.omanet.com/tourism.html, Accessed 19th December2011 http://www.omaninfo.com/article/growthoftourism.html, Accessed 19th December 2011