Salalah holds great potential for ethnic tourism

At a time when the whole world is facing the crisis of maintaining originality, there is one place on the world map where true essence of nature and culture is still there.

The feeling of being here is so strong that you need not go essentially to a museum to witness how it would have been some years ago.

It did not lose its essence despite huge interventions of development and drastic changes in people’s lifestyle.

This is Dhofar, the southernmost governorate of Oman.

It has witnessed massive development in last 47 years in terms of physical and social growth.

The physical developments have given the residents and visitors wider options to access the breadth and width of Dhofar in a better way and appreciate its heritage and culture,

The will tackle six stages totalling 914.5 km through the heart of the landscapes of the Sultanate of Oman. The ninth Tour of Oman will be the eighth consecutive edition of the race to feature a summit finish on Al Jabal Al Akhdar, a 5.7-km climb with an average gradient of 10.5 per cent. Nine of the 18 seven-man teams in this year’s Tour of Oman are World Tour outfits. while social development has given educational empowerment social assurance to all the citizens of the country.

“This gives Salalah strong potential to emerge as the place for ethnic tourism. The place has strong history and the authorities have successfully protected its heritage and culture… this is something which is missing in many parts of the world. I hope the coming generations would maintain same spirit while doing development,” said Marco, a tourist and a heritage expert from Italy.

A first time visitor in Salalah, Marco finds the place interesting both for nature lovers and history lovers. “Journey is my passion and I love to understand the culture and history of every place I visit. In Salalah I find lots of scope for those who have passion for understanding cultures around the world.”