Access to finance can fuel growth of Oman’s hospitality sector

procedures. But the potential is far greater.”

Boding well for tourism growth are Oman’s two “amazing airports”, which facilitate the speedy processing of passengers. Salalah, given its khareef season and other characteristics, is particularly promising, he noted.

“If you look at a place like Salalah in summer, it has incredible weather and is very attractive for the region. That gives it a USP in the sense you have a holiday season all year round, not just winter as in other places.”

He further added: “Returns on investments in our hotels in Salalah are by far the best in the whole Middle East. There is no reason why Oman should not be tripling its hotel capacity in the next few years.”

While extolling Oman’s tourism potential, Sawiris however lamented bureaucratic delays in the permitting investment process — an impediment that could potentially drive investors away. Another “hindrance”, he noted, has to do with finance.

“You still need to come with huge equity to do anything in Oman — that has to change! There is no bond market to speak of here; it can be an incredible source (of funding). There is a lot of savings that could be available to such projects. Government funds also have to be more aggressive in pursuing opportunities that will help the country, particularly where it has an edge. If we had more financing to the match the equity that is willing to come into the country, we would be able to double the amount of projects that are executed in Oman and in a much faster pace. For example, we would be doing two hotels in the same time, if we had better financing opportunities,” he added.