Ministry launches tourist awareness brochure in Braille
1Lending an artistic flavour to celebrations marking the Sultanate’s 49th National Day, acclaimed mixed-media artist Mahnoush Abbasgholy will be presenting a selection of striking portraits of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said at the splendid Opera Galleria in Muscat. Titled ‘Pride of the Nation’, the show will be inaugurated by Ahmed Suwaidan Al Balushi, Chairman of Al Balushi Group, on 17 November at 7:30pm and continue until 21 November.
2Two trains collided in Bangladesh, leaving at least 15 dead and injuring dozens. “So far, 15 bodies have been recovered,” district official Hayat Ud Dowlah Khan said warning that the death toll was expected to rise.
MUSCAT: Oman tourism has announced the launch of tourist awareness brochure in Braille language as part of its drive to make the country more travel-friendly.
The brochure in Braille, the tactile writing system used by the visually-challenged, will help tourists and residents get information on the destination while visiting the Sultanate.
Efforts are on to reach out to visually challenged persons, in cooperation with Al Noor Association for the Blind.
Tourist awareness
The tourist awareness brochure in Braille language is the first-of-itskind in the Middle East, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
The ministry has carried out a series of meetings on tourism awareness with officials in each
3Musandam Power Company (under transformation), the subsidiary company of Oman Oil and Orpic Group, has announced the successful closure of Phase I of its IPO for listing on the Muscat Securities Market.> governorate, managers of hotel establishments and tourism companies, as well as the local populace around tourist spots.
This exercise is meant to make them realise the importance of the tourism sector and its impact on development.
Amna bint Mohammed Al Baloushi, Director of Tourism Awareness in the Ministry of Tourism, said that the aim of establishing a department for tourism awareness is to develop the culture of tourism among citizens, residents and tourists coming from outside the Sultanate of Oman.
The move also aims to encourage youth to avail of employment opportunities in the tourism sector, enable families to benefit from tourism, develop their skills in arts and crafts and popular food, and bring delegations and tourists so that they can learn about the Omani culture closely.
Reaching out
On awareness campaigns in schools, Amna Al Baloushi said the department had reached out to about 11 governorates, even in the remote villages.
“We held awareness programmes for school students. Programmes were prepared to visit some tourist landmarks and get acquainted with them closely. This mechanism has strengthened inter-ministerial relations and fostered the concept of tourism in educational programmes.”
She said, “Teachers were targeted in the second phase of the campaign. We contacted around 450 teachers of social sciences and 90 from vocational training in 11 governorates of the Sultanate between 2010 and 2018.”