Wadi Shab Resort

New hotel supply on the horizon.  In fact, much closer than that as one can already book a room in the new Wadi Shab Resort, say for the coming week-end. It's a small, 34-room resort type hotel next to Tiwi just off Wadi Shab, hence the obvious name association.

I have not seen the hotel up and running yet, just did a bit of digging on the web. Having been in the area a few times, I was trying to get an initial feel of what the product could or should be.

Well the good news is the strong local entrepreneurial spirit triggering a new venture on tourism, in a rural area. It is still striking how few facilities are in the catchment of such a wonderful place like Wadi Shab and Tiwi. Now at least we have a nice hotel that can be used as a basis for some star day trips in the area or use it as a stopover for traveling further south. Or just to spend a couple of days on the beach away from the city and not having to compromise on your sleep.

The less good news is, that while the place is magnificent, the new hotel does not seem to show much originality, personality or unique touch. It does not seem to capture the feel and essence of the area: a blend of calm and pristine coastal and a wild, rough mountain feel. But then again, let’s stay positive. Maybe it’s a bit too early, maybe the photography on the web page can be improved a bit. A lot of the offering can also be shaped as we go.  Maybe the kitchen will be a main drawcard. As we know, in Oman a strong cuisine can make guest forget about many other issues and have them leave with a smile on their face. 

So I urge you to go and try it out, and maybe let us  know how did you find it. (Btw. they should also register the hotel on tripadvisor). In any ways I wish the owners good luck and success in their business. As it looks now they have quite good chances to do very well in the week-ends and will have to run for their money during week-days.

Side note:

Some say it’s bad that the tourism developments in Oman have not been undertaken at a bolder pace. This maintained a more pristine and traditional feel of the tourism landscape, as opposed to a shadow of the volume driven strategies of our neighbors. Some others are proud of this traditional feel and a bit underdeveloped status. Either way, the country is increasingly popular among international travelers and efforts are also being undertaken to finally encourage the domestic tourism. This coupled with the vacuum in quality offering, especially in the countryside, gives Oman the opportunity to leapfrog a trial and error type organic growth and focus on a smarter process. That is consciously controlling what is built in the context of a clear vision.  To have a strategy of what do we want and what we do not want. (They will always be more of the latter. Any strategy has more losers than winners in the short term.)  Entrepreneurial thinking is good for Oman, but leaving it all on it is not yet advisable.  Expressing a vision, encouraging, guiding and supporting entrepreneurs it is!  In one word to plan!  To master plan!  Tourism and land planning decision makers will never have the (relatively) clean sheet of paper they have now. Let's rehears the lessons learnt and plan. And If we think we already do plan, well that's good, then let's try to improve. There is always room for that.