How hot is the Omani hot?

Oman is clearly a highly seasonal destination. Most hoteliers would consider May, June, July and August the worst to overcome and then November, December, January and February being the months to milk for the austerity of the summer.

We are not alone with this pain; most of the region is struggling with the same problem. In fact there are very few destinations equally strong year round, at least when it comes to leisure demand.  Some mountain destinations can achieve that combining winter sports (skiing, snowboarding etc.) with summer outdoor activities (tracking, hiking, mountain biking etc.).  In terms of offering a consistently nice weather throughout the year, very few destinations have the luxury like the Caribbean has.

So what are the obvious practices for extending the hotel / tourism season in Oman?  Gradually increasing discounts, the +1 packages (nights for free or additional person for free, or kids for free).  The special targeted offers and packages like detox or diet packages, body and mind programs that place the draw card from the weather and the outdoors into the indoors and the program that is offered.

But it would be too easy to say that by applying these we have done everything. In fact the one and only main negative perception that any attraction/destination in Oman has to fight is the “unbearable, unpleasant” weather.  And that is something the country promotion could support.  After having lived here for a few years, I am not saying summer is pleasant (although this year so far was quite generous), but I think the MidEast including Oman, had the misfortune of being stigmatized with an underrated weather. Probably working to soften  this stereotype will not result in people showing up in Oman in the middle of August, but could refine a bit their attitude. Just think of when you have a chat over the phone with anybody from Europe of North America, it is almost a rule that they will express some compassion for you bearing that “extraordinary heat”.  In reality many other touristy areas are almost comparably hot to Oman, but people rarely think of them as such.

Let’s have a look of a quick weather benchmark for today (June 10, 2013):

• Muscat: 30 (feels like: 38), Clear and humid
• India, Goa:  28 (33), Rain and mist
• Pukhet, Thailand: 30 (36), Light Rain
• Seychelles: 27 (31), Sunny
• Maldives: 31, (44), Partly cloudy
• Colombi, Sri Lanka: 31 (39), Partly sunny
• Caribbean (the Bahamas, Georgetown): 29 (35), Sunny to partly cloudy
• Hawai, Honolulu: 31, (31) Partly cloudy

Souce: AccuWeather

Wow, it is not as bad as I instantly thought.  If I was to priorities country marketing money, probably I would not fight frontally the perception of the country being a furnaces. What I could certainly consider though, is loading an app on the Oman tourism website which benchmarks the Omani weather (maybe the one in Muscat and the one on Jebel Ahkdar or Jebel Shams) against the usual suspects of mainstream overseas leisure (sun and sea) destinations.

Jabal Akhdar Resort delayed

It seems there is no magic around hotel development in Oman. The much expected Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort developed by Omran  is announced to be delayed with a year. A 90 days extension was awarded based on a variation order for construction of an additional building. As of January 2013 the project is above 50% completion. Expected opening is  Q4 2014 as opposed to Q4 2013.

I was on my way of getting exited on the push this property would give to the domestic tourism, when this news reminded me of the coded mismatch between planning and realization in this part of the world.

Anyways, given the relatively short delay, I thought would still worth having a look at the proposed concept. Alila is a Singapore based small hotel operator and brand. Their proprieties are promoted as luxury hotels and seem like a lighter version of the more established Aman Resorts. I have never been at any of their six properties (two in Bali, two in Jakarta, one in Bangalore and Goa) but have looked on the reviews the corporate website and checked some of the pricing. This property is planed as a 78  86-room luxury hotel with extensive spa and relaxation offering along with a cliff-side restaurant and pool. Alila was selected as a strategic partner for Omran, as they expressed interest in also managing other future properties in Oman.

I hope it will not cost too much Omran to get Alila run their hotel, as I see little value in having such a brand on this particular property targeting primarily the local and regional market.  Generically I would say you are better off with your own brand rather then going for an expensive international operator when most of the following conditions apply: 

• your location is just great and it pretty much sells itself,
• you have relatively easy access to your sender markets, though own channels or online travel agents (like booking.com etc.)
• you don't have much competition in terms of rate, your product is clearly higher in value proposition, and last but not least
• when you cannot afford an international operator (intl' brand affiliation is an expensive operating cost and can pretty much kill your profits).

Looking at the above, it seems to me that a well construed own brand would make just about the same work or better than Alila would. Of course with a proper management and sales channels in place to address the local and regional markets.

I guess we will have to wait and see.

After posting the above I have been informed by Omran's communication people that some of the information above was not accurate. I was sourcing the factual data from publicly available articles and websites. While I tend to double check what I quote and always link the references, I cannot possible verify the accuracy of these sources. That being said I thank Omran for their clarifications and interest in this blog, and have amended my post to reflect the new information received.

Is Sheraton Ruwi recovering?

The long closed old Sheraton in Ruwi is showing signs of life once in a while.  It might be approaching the end of its 6-year coma, as yesterday just blinked, moved one hand and whispered that it might wake up as new in 12 to 16 months.  The doctors and relatives are confident.

As an outsider and not knowing the property well enough, I would speculate that once revived the hotel has good chances in failing to regain its glory, provided it will try to pick up business where it left it 6 years ago.

Things have changed since then, lots of new upscale hotels came on the market and quite a few are just about to knock on the door like the Kempinski at The Wave, the W and the Westin in Shaati, The Intercontinental at the Muscat Hills just to name a few. The city is growing northwards; CBD is not going to stay in Ruwi forever. The Airport Heights are gaining already over Ruwi in offering higher quality office space and better accessibility.  

I am sure the owners have done their homework, but to me it seems that for that location there are two opportunities on the Muscat market that very few really cater for at the moment:

1. the extended stay business guests.  This segment still does not have a decent branded offering in town. If you’d like to stay for more weeks let alone months, you’d either put the big buck on the table or you’ll have to close your eyes and be happy with a locally branded compromise. The short term apartment rental market it also practically nonexistent.

2. the ergonomic, chic economy business hotel. The closest such brand in the Starwood portfolio is Element, however it’s rather unknown outside of North America.  Starwood website quotes an Element to be opened in Muscat in Jan 2016 (while it has no mention of a Sheraton to open any time soon), but that refers to the project replacing the Intercontinental Shaati along with the W and the Westin. A Four Points by Sheraton would also be a better option, allowing for a lower price point and avoid competition with the coastal 5 stars.

In my view, a combination of the above would be a much better bet for the glorious building than just stepping up as a face lifted Sheraton. Let’s see.

Strongest Omani brand abroad...

Following up on my earlier thinking on the brand promise of Oman, I was trying to figure out which Omani brand is possibly the strongest abroad. When I mean the strongest I refer to the most known, and when I mean brand I not only refer to a product, but rather a name that one can associate with.   Most probably the best know Omani name internationally is the one of HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said  for all the right reasons.  My thinking here though is related more to commercial names and brands, their current awareness and future potential.

One of the most obvious calls would be Oman Tourism (i.e. Sultanate of Oman), especially considering the recent efforts put into the promotion of Oman as a tourism destination. Another possible candidate could be Amouage with a bespoke strategy of becoming a major player on the international luxury fragrances market.  Perhaps Oman Air with a best in class business class seat award, a growing fleet and regional presence?  I was also thinking of Oman Sail given the recent successes and huge exposure on the sports channels around the world. Let's face it, the brands that have a strong local call like Bank Muscat, Omantel, Nawras, The Royal Opera House Muscat  etc...have little to no traction to an international audience yet.

So let's have a closer look to the ones before:

• Oman Tourism - strong presence at international tourism fairs, adverts on international media, a strong  offering for active and spa tourism, a smart complementary choice to a Dubai mainstream experience (@OmanTourism)
• Amouage - strong story, good product,  potential for a strong frankincense association, exotic apeal (@AmouagePerfumes)
• Oman Air - young fleet, best in class BC seat, strong regional routes (@omanair)
• Oman Sail - world class team, several recent successes on the world tour, solid local roots and case for existence, mix of sports, heritage, lifestyle story (@OmanSail)

All in all I think probably Oman Sail is currently the best positioned to take a lead on internationally most known Omani brand. However a bit more coordination (I am not assuming there is none) between the strategies of all three could result in benefits for all of them. E.g. why not see a Frankincense or Amouage boat in the Oman Sail fleet? Why not create an Oman Sail line of Amuage fragrances for a sporty, fresh feel.

Any other candidates you'd ad?

The brand promise of Oman. Delivered?

What comes to your mind first when you think of Oman?  What colors, feelings, scents do you associate with Oman? How would Oman look like had it been a person? What are you most proud of as an Omani when you think of your country? These are all important question from tourism and country brand perspective.

Most likely the Brand Oman Management Unit has done its homework before coming up with the country branding strategy and collateral.

According to them the brand has the following core elements:

• turtle, ocean wave and life - navy blue color wave (in the logo)
• mountains - light blue siluette of the mountain 
• dhow - dark blue shape reflecting the tip of the dhow boat
• frankincense - light green shape

Not a bad call at all. These are pretty much the unique features the country has to offer.  Like with any brand the promise has to be kept. Any tourist visiting the country should find it difficult to leave without unwillingly meet most of these features. Is that really the case today?

We have so many museums, but we don't have (or I am not aware of) a House of Frankincense where the whole story of this great natural product is presented in a creative and interactive way. Visitors could experience and understand that importance of frankincense in the history of Omanis. 

Same could be said with the Dhow. There are some initiatives in Sur and maybe elsewhere, but an interesting and creative Dhow heritage center is yet to be done. This should be by the sea and include several interactive features for visitors. Would be a very nice and challenging work for any museum and visitor attraction planner.

The mountains and wadis do most of job themselves, however some visitors centers in the most popular mountain destinations (Jebel Ahkdar, Jebel Shams, Wadi Bhani Khalid, Wadi Sham etc.) could do a lot of justice for these marvelous places and help protect their environment. And offer jobs for locals.

There is an  Ocean and sea life museum (Aquarium and Marine Science & Fisheries Centre) at the  Marina Bandar Al Rowdha in Sidab but it's somewhat outdated, could really  take a nice revamp and some new features that would worth the trip from Muscat for any visitor.

Who do we want the most?

It's always good to know who are you after, especially if you are a destination/hotel/restaurant who wants to do better. Shifting to a more leisurely mode, and without trying to be exhaustive here I listed a few types of travelers that we might or might not want to chase down with unbeatable offers.

• Business travelers: They love (hereafter "Love"): airport transfer in room rate; to be called by name at the reception; spacious lobby with free internet; loyalty programs; night club within premises. They hate (hereafter "Hate"): to press shirts; to take the shower in the tub; the 15 different light switches in the room; to explore the city and eat alone; admitting that they buy stuff at the airport that they don't need.
• MICE (conference and incentive) travelers: Love - to be overly looked after by the organizers; souvenirs; to discover the best shopping deals in town.  Hate - to be in time; agenda starting at 8.30am; to be discovered at the pool during the afternoon plenary.
• All inclusive travelers: Love - animated programs for the kids; buffet breakfast; buffet lunch; buffet dinner; buffet bar, complementary facial, more animated program for the kids. Hate - rainy weather, another family from their home town next door, to accept that "all-inclusive" package does actually not include the four-hand, water-bed, hot-stone Ayurvedic full-day treatment.
• Golf and Spa tourists: Love - to travel with buddies; nice bars around the corner; an afternoon nap; to be told "nice shot sir" and/or "you look very healthy today mam". Hate - to call home, to loose balls, the thought of settling balance at check-out; not knowing how much they'll have to wait before they can be do this again. 
• Shopping tourists: Love - mall-hotel transfer in room rate; discounts; buy-one-get-two's; junk food after a successful raid; to put on clothes they just bought; VAT rebate at the airport. Hate - the text message on their credit card balance; to see their new purchase at a discount in the next shop; to sum up the damage done; to be asked at the hotel what they have seen today?
• Active and Adventure tourist: Love - to explain what they are here for; full cover insurance; Hate - to be in need of the full cover insurance; to watch "127 hours";
• Honeymooners, "Romantourists": Love - to be upgraded as a present;  breakfast in bad;  sunrise at 10am; sunset when the hot chocolate fudge cake is served; candles in the room. Hate - to be stared at; having to pay for the scooter they crashed; one of those days.
• Backpackers: Love - to think they are soul searching; couchsurfing.org; to meet Frida the Swede PR student or Raul the Spanish photographer; Hate -  hitchhiking  in the rain; not meeting Frida or Raul; having to call mom every other day.
• Stag/Hen party goers: Love - to be stared at; to think they are less ridiculous then the groom, to watch "The Hangover" Hate - running away without paying and 2 minutes later being caught, red eye flights; to watch the "Hall Pass".

As you see these groups have very different needs and motivations for travel and consumption. So one cannot do enough to understand a bit more what makes the difference to them. Which few should we seek to target? Easier to tell which we should not.

Using the power of subtle promotion

It is well known that more often then not an article or an "independent" review worth more than tons of expensive advertising.  Obviously this is nothing new for the professionals responsible for the promotion of Oman as a tourism destination. I am almost sure that there is an (albeit small) team in the Ministry of Tourism, that works on putting together an agenda of international sporting, cultural and media events to be hosted in Oman for 1-3 years ahead. Coordinating bidding work, lobbying with sport diplomats, media people, organizing fam trips for decision makers is all part of their daily work.

They must be thinking along the lines of sporting events that have wide international exposure and at the same time Oman lends itself for them, such as Sailing, Rally, Golf, Cycling, Mountain Biking etc.  I can be confident that the experience of hosting the 2010 Asian Beach Games is used as a momentum.

In terms of cultural events they surely work closely with the ROH programming team and focus on widening the reach beyond Muscat Festival’s traditional base and the Opera season.

They think of media productions like movies shots, treasure hunt shows (like the US one Oman hosted some years ago), extreme sport reality shows, documentaries (sea life, diving, historic etc.). The press treasure hunt launched in Jan 2012 is a good initiative. 

They conceptualize viral initiatives using social media. Who does not remember posting for the best job in the world of Tourism Queensland calling for an island administrator with not too much work on pristine Australian tropical beaches? I am sure with a bit of brainstorming a number of comparable but not copycat ideas can be generated buy our team and perhaps involving a few external people.

(On the movie note: take for instance the recent 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' movie with Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.  It ended up being a great promotion for Yemen. The paradox was that due to the instability in Yemen the movie was shot not in Oman but, guess where...in Morocco.)

So coming back to our small team, since all of this is successfully happening, the tourism decision makers are concerned on increasing the capacity and output of this team to aim for more creative and innovative promotion of the country and bigger tourism impact. But what if I am wrong?

"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.