The Saudi Tafa'ul newspaper continued its tours in the city of Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman, where it visited many picturesque tourist areas, and met with Tafa'ul Saudi Arabia. In Salalah, the newspaper met with Professor Marwan, Director of the Tourism Promotion Department, who revealed the Sultanate's goals for tourism promotion and the future vision to attract many countries of the world to tourism in Oman.
Dhofar Autumn Season
He said that this visit comes within the framework of the promotional program for the Dhofar Khareef season, and that the ministry is focusing during this season on organizing familiarization trips for media delegations and also for tourism offices, particularly from Gulf markets, from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and from the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
He added that the Dhofar Khareef season extends for three months, from June 21 to September 21, and that in partnership with tourism sector partners, including local and Gulf airlines, direct flights are being operated from a number of Gulf airports to Dhofar Governorate, including Salalah Airport, during this period.
He added that there will also be a movement and intensification of promotion, whether through direct promotional campaigns (B2B) or also the campaigns that the Ministry has also implemented during the past period (B2C) in malls and commercial centers in a number of Gulf cities under the “Your Summer is Green” campaign.
He said that this visit is part of the program, and through it, the most important heritage and tourist sites in the governorate are highlighted. He pointed out that the Ministry has worked to promote Dhofar as a tourist destination throughout the year, whether during the tourist season in the autumn season, or during other tourist seasons, such as the Sarab season, which overlaps with the end of the autumn season and also overlaps with the beginning of the winter tourism season in the governorate.
Winter tourism season
He said that the winter tourism season brings direct flights from a number of European cities and European airports to Salalah Airport directly during this period from October to the end of April, approximately six to seven months during which the governorate is active and touristic during this period, and therefore the efforts are continuous and ongoing throughout the year.
He added that there is a tourism growth of four to six and seven percent every year for the Dhofar Khareef season. There is also growth in promotional program efforts, which are consistent with the size of development and also with the accommodation capacity. It is also closely linked to the accommodation capacity and the size of development, and there is also appropriate growth in this regard for the Khareef season.
He pointed out that there has been an 18% growth in the winter tourism season over two years, and that this season is also witnessing increasing growth. There are many major tourism projects in the coming period, which also requires increasing the volume or intensification of promotion during the winter tourism period.
He continued, "The capitals and cities I mentioned complement each other, and each region or tourist destination has a competitive advantage. What is our advantage in Oman? It could be the heritage and cultural aspects. This is an advantage that attracts many visitors from the GCC countries and Arab countries in general, as well as from different nationalities. This has now become an advantage. We are talking about a heritage site. This heritage site was managed by a private company and is now open year-round. The Sultanate of Oman has truly empowered this aspect, employed the heritage sector to serve the tourism sector, and we now have many job opportunities and opportunities for entrepreneurs to utilize these sites. They have become attractive destinations for visitors from all over the world."
“Every tourist destination employs its competitive advantages and features to attract these visitors, and this is what the Sultanate of Oman is working on. We have stunning beaches extending from the far south to the far north. Heritage sites also provide Oman with tremendous heritage assets, castles, forts, and sites registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It also provides stunning nature, valleys, mountains, caves, springs, and valleys in every region in Oman. Every governorate has tourism assets that distinguish it from the rest of the governorates within the Sultanate of Oman, in addition to arts, customs, traditions, dialects, and languages. These enrich the tourism aspect in Oman and have also become an advantage to attract a number of visitors, and this number is increasing every year.”
