Five tourism ventures await approval in Oman

A feasibility study of some projects has been completed, said Wael bin Ahmed Al Lawati, chief executive officer of Omran.

Muscat: As many as five major tourism projects, which are aimed at attracting both international and domestic tourists, are expected to get the green signal from authorities before the year-end, a senior official of the Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) told Times of Oman.

These ventures are part of a long-term plan to develop 12 tourism projects that would encourage foreign tourists to extend their stay in the country and also help to develop domestic tourism.

"A feasibility study of some projects has been completed, but we haven't got an approval from the board," said Wael bin Ahmed Al Lawati, chief executive officer of Omran. 

The proposed projects which have been identified by  Omran, include a theme park and developing of forts, castles and old towns as attractive tourist destinations along with an eco tourism  project 

Feasibility study
"Conducting a feasibility study, finding the right location and the right operator for the (proposed) theme park takes a lot of time. It is a complex project," he added.

Engineer Al Lawati said Omran is also in the process of setting up a heritage company for developing forts, castles and old towns. "Some of these will be developed into heritage HOTELS. This is a major focus," he added. 

Tourist attractionsCiting reasons for developing the projects, Al Lawati said it was aimed at creating more tourist attractions that would encourage foreigners to extend their stay. 

Domestic tourists also require facilities for entertainment, he added.  

Abdul Wahid Al Farsi, vice president – external affairs, Omran, said last month that among the 12 projects, some of them may be developed by Omran alone, while others would be either joint ventures with partners or those which private investors could develop as their own.

Referring to the eco tourism venture, Al Farsi said,  "We haven't identified the location and the size of the project. A feasibility study is still underway."

Omran and its joint venture partner are also developing several HOTELS IN different parts of the country to enhance the number of rooms, which will attract more tourists.