Saudi travellers a key priority for Oman

Travellers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are to be a key focus for Oman’s Ministry of Tourism.

Talking to Arabian Travel News, deputy director general international tourism Asma Al Hajry noted the importance of attracting Saudi travellers to the Sultanate, with an emphasis in the Khareef season.

“For this year and next year we are looking more focused for the Saudi market, the reason being we have seen a lot of Saudis coming to Oman during the Khareef season and the numbers are growing.”

As part of its efforts to promote Oman within the Kingdom, the ministry has appointed a dedicated representative to focus on “strategically on how to promote Oman in the Saudi market”.

Though Khareef is a key to its promotions, Al Hajry said that she was keen to ensure Oman was seen as a year-round destination: “We are promoting Oman as a year-round destination and throughout the country, we do not just focus on Muscat. We have a different segment of people coming who prefer Muscat, or prefer Salalah during the Khareef season.”

She added that the ministry was working with partners to introduce packages to the market to encourage travel to the low seasons in both Muscat and Salalah and that brainstorming sessions were currently taking place.

She added that though the destination is looking to attract a greater number of visitors to Oman, it was not looking to work against its neighbours.

“We are not competing with the Emirates, Qatar or any of our neighbouring countries, we are complementing each other. For a traveller coming to Dubai they get a totally different experience, and when they come to Oman it is different. So my main message is we are not competing, we are complementing each other.”