Oman sets sights on eco-tourism
MUSCAT - The Omani government has set its sights on
milking the adventure travel and eco-tourism market, a senior tourism advisor
in the sultanate says.
"Oman has all the attributes of a successful eco-tourism destination,"
Heba Abdul Aziz, advisor to the commerce and industry ministry, told the Oman
Observer newspaper.
"Oman's unique environmental assets far outweigh the strengths of other eco-tourist destinations in the region," she said.
Aziz singled out bird watchers in particular, whom she described as “high-spending, upmarket visitors."
A five-year tourism plan also focuses on niche holidays offering trekking, mountaineering, rock climbing, and dolphin and whale watching, she added.
Oman, which has stunning natural scenery that includes mile after mile of pristine beach, rugged mountain and baking desert, saw its fledgling tourist industry take a hard blow after the September 11 terror attacks on the United States.
A conservative Muslim state that occupies the eastern edge of the Arabian peninsula, Oman has, like other Gulf states, embraced tourism as a way to diversify revenue sources away from the market vagaries of oil or gas prices.
But it has avoided the mass tourism of Dubai, targeting instead middle and high-class tourists to better stimulate the economy and not offend local sensitivities.
AFP
