"Beauty has an address"

There is a lot of work being done on the promotion of Oman as a tourism destination. Obviously the ministry has taken the bull by the horns and is attacking the world travel market on several fronts. “The beauty has an address-Oman" campaign with adverts on CNN and other global media, creation of a new tourism promotion portal, the new country brand development are all part of an orchestrated effort.  Besides these softer issues, the tourism infrastructure is also under heavy fire: new airport terminal to be opened soon, new convention Centre coming up, major hotel projects under way, Sultan Qaboos Port redevelopment project etc.  Remote wadis and mountain areas becoming easily accessible through the increasing number of new paved roads. This is all exiting for me as traveler or resident, let for the tourism professional. I think the challenge is huge, however with the resources made available and the right lessons learnt a lot can be done in relatively short time.

Taking note of all these positive trends I took the liberty to list a few things that I think are still missing or are not yet satisfactory. Few thought on the first, and then future posts to follow on the others. 

Creating a country brand is almost always a very difficult exercise and involves huge responsibility. Almost always a board composed of public figures, artists, celebrities, advertising-, media- and tourism specialists is involved. The responsibility can only be with such a forum especially in light of the costs that are involved. There is a very fine balance between creating something that is very creative and has the potential for a huge impact (but possibly difficult to digest by officials), or just doing something for the sake of ticking a box and actually not creating any new value.

In an efficient tagline --or slogan if you like-- there has to be a certain degree of wit oand hmmm effect. It has to be a great deal aspirational, not just an eye or ear catcher as it almost never works alone. It is accompanied at least by a logo but more often complex imagery or even videos.  While “The beauty has an address-Oman” does relatively well on the first criteria of cathing the ear, it does not fly on the second of being aspirational. It perhaps catches your ears but it does not make you wonder what Oman is like. It does not challenge your curiosity. It is almost like an oxymoron.

Perhaps trying more to play on the purity, the originality the untouched nature of the country, the genuine human values that are still to be found in these societies, the essence of Arabian culture would have made a better job as well. Just leaving the "-Oman" out would significantly improve the slogan. It would be more intriguing  more ear catcher and for those who would worry that it looses the point, it does not. Almost always comes in a context where the puzzle is solved immediately.

But again, do not get me wrong, the current slogan is better than most of Oman competitors have in the region. Let’s just have a quick look:  “Definitely Dubai” - not bad, “Abu Dhabi - A destination of distinction” - i bet it is..., “Saudi – An enriching experience” -- rich right..., “Bahrain – Manama Capital of Arab Culture”...for sure, “Qatar – As independent as you are”...what?!, “Ras Al Khaima – a rising emirate”...that's what you think..., “Sharja – My destination for precious family moments”...do I have to go all the way there for those moments...?
As one can see, apart of the one Dubai has all the other are pretty lame some even ridiculous. So well done Oman, and please do even better next time.