So...what next?

I am sure most readers of this blog have much better things to do, but in case they are kept at bay by the chilly weather of Oman, and were to skim through my posts of the last two years they'd see quite a few small ideas on how to improve tourism related things over here.  Some more policy related, others very practical. Some posts were on urban development thoughts focused on increasing the appeal of the city and the quality of life.

I was presently surprised that some of these have been slowly happening, quietly in the backyard. Obviously this is a mere coincidence and has nothing to do with me muttering over here.  It is  good to see however new things like a 4 wheel drive park by Suhail Bahwan Group, a larger scale initiative by Bank muscat to support public spaces for sports, the somewhat sporadic programs of Royal Opera House Muscat promoting music for Omani youth, a proper go cart race course back in use, initiatives for a decent  home for cricket, etc.  Is there still a long way to go? Most certainly, but we should also celebrate the quick wins and encourage "governtrepreneurs" to further improve the happiness index of the population. Oman currently ranks the 23rd (just behind UK) in terms of happiness out of the over 150 countries in the review by UN.

With your kind support, I will just read these achievements of Oman as a motivating factor for me to carry on scratching my head for some new ideas, although my time for this is becoming increasingly scarcer.

On the same note: since it has now finally been announced for Muscat, my the next post will be on water parks, Inshallah.

Until then wish all of you a humorous and memorable 2014!