PEOPLE’S PLATFORM
AT
a time when Muscat is named the Arab Tourism Capital and the world’s second best destination to visit, one feels this great city woefully lacks good bookshops. Recently two bookshops (Family Bookshop in Qurum and Border in Bausher) closed down, making the scarcity of good bookshops all the more visible.
Among other activities, tourists, citizens and residents need two things. One is the bookshops and the second is the books on Oman’s business and other aspects. Both are hard to find at times. There is no bookshop in almost all the supermarkets, hypermarkets and malls of Oman.
One feels there is an urgent need to set up good libraries with titles from around the world and Oman in strategic places such as The Royal Opera House Muscat, Al Bustan Palace Hotel, Oman International Exhibition Centre, Central Bank of Oman, Ministries District, and in all hypermarkets.
Similarly, there is an urgent need to set up libraries in almost all the strategic places and public organisations.
— Ali Hassan al Farsi
Thanks for drawing attention to a very important issue through the People’ Platform; indeed the importance of books, bookshop and libraries in our lives cannot be over emphasised. The authorities and the private sector players would do well to step in and doing something which is beneficial to them and the society at large. age which has long-term negative impact on tourism.