Omani Olympians

The London2012 Olympics are officially on.  Danny Boyle, the mastermind behind the opening ceremony who is also the director of the brilliant movie Trainspotting, made sure the show had lots of originality, some humor but above all he grandiosely proved us that there is probably much more Britain gave to the world than one might suspect.

We have also seen the Omani Olympic Team of four athletes marching in traditional costumes. (If the Football team had qualified avoiding the pathetic defeat against Senegal, the delegation could have been more impressive). These four athletes will be the ambassadors of Oman to the sporting world in the next three weeks or so. With a surprise success they would be capable to attract more attention on Oman than any other country promotion could. So let's have a look on who they are.

We have Ahmed Al-Hatmi (27) from Al Rustaq, competing in shooting - men's double trap. Then three track athletes: Shinoona Salah Al-Habsi (19) from AL-Khoud, compeating in women's 100 m, Barakat Mubarak Al-Harthi (27) in men's 100m and Ahmed Mohamed Al-Merjabi (21) in men's 400 m, both from Ibra.
The odds seem to favor sprinter Mubarak Al-Harthi as most likely to stay in the race for longer, eventually making it to a quarter final, eventually a semi final or -through a small miracle- even to the final. However that would probably mean a massive improvement from his personal best (10.17s). The weakest qualifying time in Beijing was 10.14s and the last sprinter in the final stopped the clock at 10.03s, while Bolt has scored the depressing result of 9.69 (WR) with his handbrakes on in the last 10 meters.

We can follow Ahmed on the 2nd of August, while Shinoona and the sprinter boys will have their track events between 9-12 August.

Good luck tó all four of them, and let's hope they will be able to cause some surprises and convert their success in  great sources of inspiration. Inspiration for people to check out where on earth this country of Oman is, and inspiration for young Omani athletes to work harder and dream big in their sports disciplines.


Photo: Reuters

Smiles of Oman

They say the shortest way between two people is a smile. Judging by this Oman should be a rather crowded place. I always had the impression that people of Oman smile much more than people of other GCC countries. Hence, the title choice of  "Smiles of Oman" for the latest training initiative of the National Hospitality Institute is just great! So is the idea! - a service level improvement campaign underpinned by training modules for customer facing staff, their managers and supervisors.

Although I have not had a chance to see the training materials I hope that the one-day modules manage not only to scratch the surface by offering canned formulas of welcome address and deal with problematic cases, but also providing insights on customer behaviors, emphatic understanding and more. I always have the feeling that there are two main issues causing service problems here: 1) failure (or unwillingness) to understand customers perspective and/or 2) lack of knowledge on what they are selling. Perhaps a third one is response time.

Like any campaign the real benefits should be in the follow up. Not knowing what the plans of NHI are I attempted to put down a few ideas:

• Sell it to consumers: a strong social media component of the program (twitter, facebook) could help selling the certification concept idea to consumers as well. If we -consumers- will not be aware of the service value of the Smiles of Oman tag, I doubt it will be able to offer enough for businesses as a one day training program.
• Incentivise businesses to use it: like most new things people have to be convinced to use it. Coming up with some arrangement with radio/tv and written press to favorably price Smiles of Oman certified ads, might help business in considering the program and some fresh promotion as well.
• Build it into a certification program: this is a bit of a larger bite and requires significant resources but in exchange would ensure long term impact and sustainability. An annual rankings and award system for the service sector would do good for everybody.

There is a lot in a smile true, but let's not forget the ultimate goal is to make us -customers- smile.

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.

Locals always save the day

If you were following my thoughts inhere you might remember that I have emphasized the importance of domestic tourism for any country. It's not just lip service, 70% of world tourism activity is related to domestic travelers.  A rule of thumb says that if 50% from the tourism of a country is domestic, it provides a healthy balance in case of international economic volatility.

Anyways, it seems that the tourism authorities in Oman have all their homework done and more. They have just launched "Now is the time", a campaign to promote domestic tourism in off season periods like summer. Well done Ladies and Gentlemen! You might want to stop reading at this point as there will be nothing new for you inhere. (I secretly hope I am wrong).  I think this is a good start and certainly would be interested to see results. The private sector support is also impressive, see all the discounts they are willing to provide for residents.

There are a few other thoughts that might be considered as follow-ups:
--travel vouchers as employment benefit: this works in many countries as there are tax incentives in place to provide travel vouchers to employees as opposed to cash. Here the tax part would not work, but there are other ways to make employers (public and private) interested in providing such benefits to their employees. Since these vouchers can only be spent domestically it just boost internal demand. It is a no-brainer.
--ad an extra day to the week-end: in off peak periods most hotels and resorts are struggling  during weekdays and they are a bit relieved (from the pain of being empty) during week-end. A good way to partially mitigate this is to offer an extra night free for week-end guest. For resorts it generates extra food ad beverage revenues anyways and most people consume on site.
--extend campaigns to restaurants: eating out is much more present in local culture than local travel. Bank on that and combine the two. There can be days of the week (usually first or second day working day the week) when restaurants give huge, up to 50% discounts for hotel guests
--local travel is all about packaging and offering activities: having this in mind never advertise just a stay somewhere. A Muscatier is unlikely to travel to Salala to check out the city and the hotel. If it comes with 2 full days of activities in a package, it's a much easier decision.

And last but not least, since the ideas are there we might as well focus hard on the implementation. The proof is in the pudding, so monitoring the results of such campaigns and learning from their impacts is key. I cant' wait to see some public numbers on that. Celebrate your success!

Pictures from corbis.com: Celia Peterson, and Keith Sell

The bigger picture

Recently I had a refreshing discussion with a friend about the economic prospects of Oman.  Since tourism is very much my area of interest I was obviously a bit biased, something that is occasionally reflected in this blog as well.  But I trust in the critical judgment of the readers.

On the back of this discussion I just thought it is wise to put things into perspective here as well.  The bottom line is: tourism is not and will never be an alternative to oil.  Not only for Oman, for any oil rich country!  Nor even UAE will be able to rely on tourism alone. So no matter how much effort and investment goes into the development of tourism, it should only be enough to create a very strong, albeit complementary sector in the range sectors giving the future backbone of economy (chemical, heavy industry, construction, services etc.)

Currently (2011) the GDP contribution of tourism in Oman is a total of 6.5% (including direct, indirect and induced spending).  All-in employment is 70,000 people (including the whole tourism supply chain. If we take only direct employment is 35,000). This is expected to increase by approximately 5% p.a. for the next 10 years.  So, no matter how hard we try (assuming all other things unchanged) it will never be significantly higher than 10-15% of GDP, which is pretty much the world average!!!  Yes, it is kind of depressing but it’s a fact.  Obviously as the oil revenues are decreasing the share of tourism can increase beyond this level, but it won’t make the overall pie bigger.

The only countries that can have significantly higher contribution of tourism to GDP are the island-type destinations like Maldives, Seychelles etc. In fact the mini states in the Caribbean have the highest share of tourism contribution to GDP in the World, in some cases amounting up to 70% all in, like the case of Maldives.

So what? Let’s just assume that there is massive planning work happening to prepare the economy for a post oil sustainability, the time when tourism will have to be ONE major source of income, but it cannot be THE major  one, as it will just simple not be enough.  With that said, I still love this sector and I think Oman and tourism can have a long lasting and fruitful marriage. But in order for that to happen the love affair has to start now.

Stats from: WTTC’s latest Economic Impact Research

Making peace with Time

What do you think Dali was inspired by when he came up with the melting clocks?

Only recently I came to appreciate the way most people in Oman relate to time. Westerners are raised to believe that time is money, and the quicker you are the better you are. Time is an essential measure for them.  They are always in a hurry and claim (or pretend) to be very time conscious.  I was puzzled initially and  only recently came to actually experience that here, quicker is not necessarily the better, and time efficiency is not always your best advisor.  Taking the time, “sleeping on it” could put things into better perspective and you end up taking a better decision (or end up not having to take one).  This obviously only works if there is a social acceptance of being slow, which in Oman is more or less there. If everybody around you is going crazy to get things done quickly you will not be appreciated to hold up things in the hope of a...more though-full  outcome.

With the service sectors and cost of labor gradually growing though, it will be interesting to see how this cultural norm is changing or prevailing.

One thing for sure, I think westerners should sometimes ask themselves if their way is really always the best way, given the bigger picture and the cultural context.  I think adapting (but not giving up) your views and routines to what you see and feel (!) around you is a far better way of achieving results, than  just exhibiting arrogance and labeling people (or even worst: groups of people) inefficient or lazy.

Summertime reminder for decision makers

Maybe it’s just me, but I have the impression that tourism professionals and developers in GCC are showing signs of revival. There is an increasing number of news hitting my inbox every day on new campaigns, promotions, packages, destination events, partnerships, new projects.  We all remember the years of new developments launched every week (obviously all of them intended to be sold out off plan) and how that changed with the nose dip of 2008/2009.  Perhaps now it is a good time to go back to the basics in rethinking what is to come next.

The lessons of the “concept-fireworks” showcased during the development race in GCC, (mainly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi) worth a reminder time and again. Having witnessed what was happening those days here’s what I would remind myself every morning before stepping into a spacious corner office anywhere in the region, if I were one of those decision makers.

Original originality is key:  and I don’t mean to hire the most expensive creatives in trying to build a kick ass brand for the water in your pool or the grass in the garden.   I mean do your homework in understanding what gives value to the destination, brainstorm around those ideas and focus on a result that is easy to differenciate. A concept that others – and not only you – think is special.  A good example is TheChedi. After so many years open, it still manages to remain a special destination hotel in a pretty average location.

The good old service: hospitality and tourism is so much more about service than anything else. And you don’t have to be an American to realized this.  Service = people, it’s not about the glitzy buidings or the adventure rides. It comes down to having the right people interacting with the travelers. They should be happy, motivated, genuin and obviously enjoing what they do. You can only achive this if you put effort and skills in selecting them, if you care about them, if you realize and also make them understand that they are your service.  I often hear executives saying  „you cannot work with these people by positive feedback and encouragement, they cannot be motivated, they only perform if they are kept under constant pressure...”   I completly disagree. It migh be harder than in another cultural environment, where foreign labour is not so dominant, but it’s possible. It just takes a bit of skills, experience and above all engagement.

Be yourself:  similar to people, destinations can only have personality if they focus on their strengths not trying to mime others. I think Abu Dhabi for example has still not figured out itself as something better than a toned down replica attempt of its neighbour. China is making massive mistakes on this front, but that is a very different story. Oman has natural attractions that nobody else has (or can replicate) in the region, focusing on those should always be kept at the core of its offering.

Engage locals:  there are no better advocates for a destination that those who grew up there but also understand where are you -as a traveler- coming from and what are you after.  By the simple fact of having only local taxi drivers, Oman has already achieved a huge differentiation in perception from the rest of the region. That should be taken to the next level now.

And the list goes on… All in all, Oman seems to have obvious advantages on the criteria above, hope these already are and will be better put in practice.

Photo by shimertje. http://www.flickr.com/photos/shimmertje/

Is golf sustainable in Oman?

There are quite a few people, especially in countries where golf has not been traditionally part of life, who see golf as a rather posh activity, the delight of the rich and famous.

If you live in GCC you might be one of them.  This however goes completely against the essence of the game as still to be found in the homeland of golf: UK and more particular Scotland.  Clubhouses there are not 40,000 square feet hospitality monuments, with luxury restaurants and massive pro shop outlets featuring the latest, most expensive gear which, contrary to a consumerist impulse, it will not make your game any better.  Courses are mainly walked, and there are no GPS screens that slow your cart down when on a slope, or giving hints on how to score a birdie.  The number of staff on such courses is typically less than the number of holes, which are designed to seamlessly integrate into their environment.

This is not to say that the new golf courses being built in the country are not good initiatives. So are OGC’s efforts to promote the game among locals, especially youth.

There is one fundamental issue that will make or break the long term sustainability of golf in these countries particularly Oman: is creating the critical mass of local players.  And this goes back to the affordability of the game.

Championship courses built from exorbitant budgets will not be able to charge green fees affordable for a wide range of locals (currently they range from RO30 to 55).  Easy courses, enjoyable for beginners, featuring affordable academy programs, perhaps even integrated in schooling curricula are key in achieving a wide reach.  Countries like Sweden and Finland have achieved remarkable results growing their golfing population by promoting the game through several 9-hole municipal courses, a sort of golf playgrounds.

On the other hand, it is well known that a destination can only claim appeal for golf tourist if it has at least 4-5 outstanding golf course in close proximity, within 30-40 minutes driving distance. Dubai ticks the box for for a long time now and results are obvious. It claims a major chunk of European golf travelers.  Morocco would be another example perhaps more comparable to Oman. Muscat is making good progress as well with two 18-hole green course open (Almouj at The Wave and Muscat Hills) and the third one opening soon (Ghala Valley 9-hole existing with another 9 under construction).

I am afraid we can hardly sit on both saddles at the same time. Focusing on establishing Muscat as a golfing destination and creating state of the art golf facilities will not be a guarantee for promoting the game of golf among locals and building a critical mass of Omani golf enthusiasts.  While having more affordable 9-hole “municipally supported” courses and driving ranges with 3-4 practice holes will achieve this result but will not mark Muscat on golfing map of GCC.  Rightly or wrongly, it seems priorities are set for the first now; hope it will yield the desired results.

Golf courses in Muscat:

Muscat Hills – 18 holes + driving range and academy. Currently temporary club house to be completed by 2015 together with a new Intercontinental Hotel on site

Almouj (The Wave) – 18 holes PGA championship course + 9 hole par 3 course to be opened in a couple of month.  Extensive driving range and state of the art academy.

Ghala Valley – 9-hole green course with second 9 under construction

Ras Al Hamra Golf Club – (PDO's golf club) currently a brown course, with greens made of oil compacted sand, new course under construction to be opened in 2014.

OFF as Omani Flavors Festival

As the old saying goes “You are what you eat”. Let’s twist it around a bit and claim that “You are liked as much as your food”. While the latter is less philosophical it certainly applies when it comes to gastro tourism i.e. the touristic appeal of the local food.

Let’s just start from the basics and assume that the Arab world and in particular Oman does not lack genuine recipes and interesting traditions of cooking and nutrition. What might lack though is focus on showcasing all of this [link to previous post].  While the number of restaurants and food places have grown over the last years, there are still very few that provide a truly Omani experience. Nor are enough places and events that have as main goal to promote the local cuisine (as diverse as it may be) bringing the indigenous flavors back in people’s mouth.

But this has changed now. We have recently attended the well-planned and nicely organized Omani Flavors Festival!  And I mean a standalone festival, not a food court for another event diluted to range of take away food stalls.  A whole master planned space structured around the ritual of eating. It has an “Appeteaser” area with a selection of mandazi (triangle shaped bread), bajeeya (fried bean balls), and mishkaak (meat skewers on a stick) prepared on the spot, engaging the visitors right from the entrance. Then we moved on to the Khubz Village where women were baking the different type of Arabic flat breads (rikhal, muhala) in a traditional way.  Our kids could not help engaging for a baking workshop in the Kiddie Kitchen, which kept them entertained and busy for quite some time.  We also bumped into the HealtyChoice area where all recipes were focused on your health without compromising (too much) on your joy.  Some choices were even better tasting than the originals.  After some hours of intense palate work we stopped for a wind down in the Majlis Al Khawa – focused on the great Omani coffee and a tea selection.  Tasting the still hot halwa in the Dessert District got us as close as possible to a fulfilling experience.

A cozy food and spice souk --leading you out to the parking area-- was offering all-you-can-imagine spices, ingredients and even traditional kitchen wear. We could also get vouchers for restaurants that offer genuine local recipes.

There were also a range of unique events and happenings that spiced up the dish.  Recipe competitions – open for all gourmand enthusiast, Chefs’ parades – engaging the heavy guns of the local restaurateur community.  We heard that a Shuwa day took place on the first and the last day of the festival showing the skills and technic of this great lamb cooking method.

So, all in all, it was an event worth driving for even a few hours.  The only problem was that it all happened in my dream, but I guess that could change, could in not?

Buy the way, there are a whole range of similar events around the world that we can learn from [link to external site].  And if you got a bit hungry than help your choice reading some good reviews here [link to another blog].

Pictures are from whitedogleader.blogspot.com

"Laser" Chance for Oman

Probably there is no media consumer in Oman who has not heard of Oman Sail before.  And if there is any left, than beware as Oman Sail will be organizing the Laser World Championships between November 2013 and January 2014. For those not into boats, the Laser is a very popular small sailing boat (dinghy) usually sailed by one or rarely by two.


As mentioned earlier, sport events are probably most practical means for promoting a country like Oman, that lends itself to so many outdoor sport activities. Besides the benefit of promotion, the other great ripple effect is making sports popular among Omanis, a job where Oman Sail most likely has done quite well since inception.
Is not an easy call though, as organizing such events is always costly and poses several challenges to host organizations, authorities and local creative minds alike.  The great thing about this event is that is a relatively long one, so it creates several opportunities for promotion and incorporating local events between races. Here are few ideas on how to improve the impact of the event domestically and internationally:

• Fun for kids:  kids are the main draw card for many families. Since sailing is not always the most action packed sports from a spectator on the shore, killing the time with interesting, sailing related attractions will attracts more spectators (small sailing pond, sailing themed playground etc. etc.)
• Free sailing lessons for the period of the event: it is just much easier to relate and appreciate to sports if you ever tried it. At the end of the day making sailing popular is a large numbers game. The more have the chance to try, the more will fall in love with it
• Get people closer to action: using CCTV with camera close to action and projectors on the shore, as well as perhaps floating stands using mid-size cruise ships, or cargo ships installed with small stands
• Unique merchandising: good quality (!) clothing, toys, and sailing gear is essential to create a lasting image
• Synergistic events: include sailing boat exhibition or similar to enhance attraction for the same period
• Attempt for a world record: (most sails on water sailing together per sqm km, or Laser with most people on board etc.)
• Get international celebrities on board: the effort of tracking down a few big names who are into sailing,  and convincing them to be there might pay off if smartly planned
• Not just Laser: a concept that does not only focuses on Laser, but it comes across as an international fiesta of sailing sports attracting sailing enthusiasts from the region

…and many more… 

We can dance...

Would you dance? The staff of the Grosvenor House in Dubai certainly would!
A great viral video was shot recently capturing the hotel staff engaging in a so called flash mob. A cool and entertaining one. Watch the surprised faces of the most guests, while some others seemed hard-to-surprise, perhaps trained flash mob attendants.

Viral videos are a great way to market, attract attention, create buzz especially on social media and its target segments, regular facebook, tweeter, youtube users.

Obviously on this genre originality is key, so repeating this would not have the desired impact...but variation could do. Perhaps it can also take regional proportions and staff of different hotels will start competing with each other bringing on more and more interesting productions.

In fact it could also give ideas to hotels in Oman calling for a most original flash mobs. There would be multiple benefits, as besides a great marketing tool, it is also a great way to motivate and keep a team spirit among your staff!  What would be your flash mob idea?

If you need ideas on how to do a flash mob (it's not that easy as it seems) check this out.
Or see how it was done by others elsewhere.

In search of the new Habsi...

Have you heard of Puskas, Beckenbauer or Johan Cruijff ?  If not than probably football is not your thing.  If  your did, do you know their nationalities? (ɥɔʇnp 'uɐɯɹǝƃ 'uɐıɹɐƃunɥ)
Long after they have retired (Puskas passed away in 2006), are still great ambassadors for their countries. There are probably few modern day marketing budgets that can repeat the performance of these legends in promoting their countries. The Hungarian inventiveness of Puskas, the German reliability of Beckenbauer and the Dutch completeness of Cruijff.

It is clear that successful teams and athletes are often priceless when it comes to country promotion. Although he is not (yet) a legend, Ali Al Habsi is playing a similar role. He is a great ambassador for Oman and its football and he has just been included in the top 500 most influential Arabs in the world list (by Arabian Business), where he is ranked #138, the first among Omanis. There is one and a bit of a problem with him: he is all alone and he is "only" a goalkeeper.

It is probably more difficult to stand out as a striker or a mid fielder and be b(r)ought in the Premier league or any other league for that matter, but Oman definitively needs another star, a striker! Ideally it would not only be the on-pitch skills making him a star, but a well balanced off-pitch personality as well, a true sportsman. (unlike Drogba who is a superstar, a cover page personality, but how much good does he actually do for Ivory Coast in terms of image?)

So who can match up Habsi in terms of personality and performance?  Perhaps the OFA, among many other challenges, has to focus on creating at least another outstanding personality.  (one way could be to support a few of the prospects to make the second division of large championships, then it's up to them to make the cut to the first stage and excel).  Amad Al-Hosni with his 76 matches in the squad could not really make it yet. So, who could be the next Habsi?

Are Omani tour guides exceptional?

Have you ever used a tour guide in Muscat, or seen few of them in action?  The last one I noted was local guide in the Grand  Mosque who was really outstanding: engaging, knowledgeable, passionate, modest and with a lot of humor at the same time. He was speaking about Islam and its cultural aspects. Truly outstanding experience. But I have a feeling that he was an exception, hopefully I am wrong.
This reminds me about how much more a destination can offer having a sound pool of outstanding local travel guides. Nonetheless it can also be a great business for the really good ones.
I am sure most of you experienced the travel guide who is great at giving a textbook monotone speech about the attraction and destination, (making it felt that it is the 50th time he/she is doing it..that week), before it rushes on to the next attraction with extended unopened umbrella (usually of a distinct disgusting color) over his/her head.
Well, the news is that the time of such guides is moving to a slow but sure end. There will always be the traveler who prefers this type of canned food experience, slowly moving into a retro feel, to be revived few decades later as a 'cool' or nostalgic thing to do...
Until then, the new trend is the personalized, original, genuine local experience, offered by amateur or pro guides who promise great fun, originality, a non-mainstream perspective. They deliver much more than visual impressions, they put you in action, situations, stir emotions, make you interact with the city/destination. They tell stories of their own offering you a local angle of the place through their lives, but seen from your perspective. A great example of this is vayable.com. A site where tested tourist guides offer unique travel experiences. Unfortunately there is no tour registered from Oman yet, but check out the "Paris by scooter" tour or the "San Francisco's premier food" tour or the "Old Rome walking" tour.  From 3-4 hours to full day experiences you can have most of what you look for.
Let's put aside for the moment the standard offering of most local agents, and guess if there would be demand for things like:

• experiencing the souqs through the eyes of a local merchant's son,
• fishing with locals from say Bandar Khairan village, then cooking the catch with local family,
• tasting the oil exploration life style of the desert along with an interesting introduction into the world of the black gold at its source,
• do a "Local portre's" or "Past and future architecture" photo shooting tour with a local photographer
• morning horse ride or evening football on the beach with locals,
• Spend the afternoon of a bullfight with one of the bull owners from Barka and go through the excitement of the preparations and the fight,
• and so much more...

(royalty free picture from corbis.com)

Food for Thought...

What's the shortest way to your satisfaction when you travel? Odds are that great food might just do it!  It is also likely the shortest way to tourists' wallets! You might find it hard to refuse the prospect of a great culinary experience, even if it comes with bolder price tag. Some say food gives it's best when savored in its indigenous environment, because it's not all about the chemical reaction in ones mouth, it's about the scents, the ambiance, the sounds, the feel, the colors, the mood, the weather... everything.

This rule should be put at work in Oman as well. There is a great effort going in the development of a unique tourism offering with massive man made attractions and infrastructure, but we might loose sight of a very important feature: showcasing the local food.  Capitalizing on the local cuisine and gastronomic potential could also be a major differentiating factor when it comes to competing with other regional destinations, as most of the others are also not doing too well on this front.

In Muscat most of the tourist proof offering is either in the expensive and universal kitchen sort of range (steak based or fusion type) or is good value for money but not really local (Turkish, Indian, Pakistani etc.).

Perhaps the best place to showcase the Omani food is in Mutrah Docklands/Port  and Cornish area. A "Food District" could include a whole range of locally inspired restaurants and it could define a whole new future for the area in the spirit of so many Dockland re-genreation projects around the world (like London, or Melburne  for the larger ones, or Cape Town for size and a tourism character comparable to Muscat). A comprehensive mixed use scheme should be elaborated with several retail outlets, restaurants, cafes, residential developments overlooking the marina (de-industrialized), and why not some offices space as well do diversify. But unlike many other examples where docklands re-generations were all about the residents this one in my view will have to be equally focused at residents and tourist. Creating what is know as the Waterfront Buzz through such a "Food District". The city obviously develops and extends northwards (Ansab, Seeb etc) therefore this historic center piece has to be treated almost like a heritage site, where some essential features of the Omani culture is well presented through food, proximity to the sea and tastefully designed traditional trading outlets (obviously the Souk would be a key feature, perhaps with a better designed signage policy).

Muscat cannot forgo such an obvious call.  Maybe the fish market redevelopment scheme was carefully thought trough in this spirit.  However if such a project seems unfeasible for Mutrah, it can work well for other Omani coastal towns, perhaps at a smaller scale. What do you think?

For more on Omani restaurants visit http://www.omanicuisine.com/

What it takes to meet ambitious tourism plans

There were around 55 million tourist visiting the Middle East in 2011 (10% down from 2010). Oman hosted some 1.7 million foreign tourist which is 3% of the pie. In other words one in 33 visitors to MidEast decided to include Oman on its itinerary. These people were estimated to spend 1.28 billion USD, which is 753 USD per visitor. The cruise liners had a considerable share from this, disembarking close to quarter a million visitors last season.
The tourism authorities however do not seem to sit on these impressive results (which were considerably growing in the last couple of  years) and aim for more. Much more. Vision 2020 talks about 12 million annual visitors by 2020. That would be equal to what Egypt has now, and a third more than what UAE hosted in 2011 (9 million). Assuming current spending per visitor, the generated receipts would result in 9 billion USD revenue for the country (oil revenues budgeted for 2012 are over 15 billion USD).   I hope these are achievable targets, certainly it will take a lot of creativity and motivation from the tourism professionals to make this happen.

Achieving these targets will not only mean courageous planning and sharp implementation, but could require a much wider effort from the whole country: authorities and population alike. Taking the unrivaled friendliness of Omanis and elevating is to a genuine hospitality culture, along with preserving the natural attractions will be key. The whole visitor experience will have to be improved from the sense of arrival, through the driving around experience, to the wow effect of exploring the clean and untouched beaches, wadi's and mountains. Tourist are very picky and harsh customers, and while they can appreciate a sense of local touch in most of what they see, they will go unforgiving on quality of food, lack of road safety, slow or overpriced service, lack of hygiene or general cleanness. So there is a lot to do and cannot be all expected from the tourism ministry.
(numbers should be considered indicative and are taken from unverified online sources: newspapers, magazines and third party analysis)