Tourists make beeline to Salalah for Khareef

SALALAH: The Dhofar Governorate has started receiving tourists for its Khareef season. There are indications that all preparations were made in advance as the season coincided with the holidays of Eid al Fitr.

The aim is to keep face with the growth in tourism and increase in the number of tourists.

On the latest developments for the Khareef season of this year, Marhoon bin Saeed al Ameri, Director-general of Tourism in Dhofar Governorate, said that the ministry has completed the printing of the tourist map of Dhofar for 2018.

Similarly, there are preparations and coordination with four tourists information centres.

He said that there would be coordination with the Commercial Complex of Salalah in the activities related to the Eid al Fitr celebrations during holidays.

Similarly, for the Eid al Adha celebrations, work to coordinate with the Directorate-general for Tourism Promotion is under way to look into proposals for various tourism activities.

The Ministry of Tourism is also coordinating with the Directorategeneral of Education in Dhofar to prepare for the participation in the summer camp for scouts.

This is to receive participants and give a visual presentation about the importance of the tourism sector and taking them on a tour.

There is also a permanent cooperation with the Directorategeneral of Sports Affairs in Dhofar in the village exhibition, particularly in the preparations for the tourist corner and organising awareness lectures for the participants at the camp of the Youth Clubs in Dhofar Governorate.

In addition to this, continuous meetings with the officials of the hotel establishments in Dhofar Governorate are being held to discuss their readiness for the tourist season.

These efforts are to ensure that all hotel establishments are ready to receive the guests of the Sultanate and make their required facilities and services available. The readiness of employees in these establishments, and importance of dealing with tour operators, guides and organising hotel cabs are also being look into.

The quality control team of the Directorate-general of Tourism in Dhofar Governorate is continuously visiting these hotel establishments for their inspection under a programme schedule. They are inspecting reception and front desks of the hotels, their kitchens and rooms to make sure that the service is ready before the onset of Khareef season.

Marhoon bin Saeed al Ameri said, that Ministry of Tourism was interested in providing all basic services to the tourists such as temporary and permanent information centres at all the corridors of land route and Salalah airport.

In the municipal entertainment centre of the Salalah Tourism Festival also there are centres which are providing tourism information and guidance to the visitors and providing them with guide books which has all required information as well as maps which have detailed information about hotels, hotel apartments, restaurants, markets, tourism and archaeological sites and fuel stations.

These centres are also receiving proposals and suggestions of the visitors. There is also a round the clock tourism communication centre of the Ministry of Tourism.

There are also teams which are formed to keep an eye over facilities and services to make the access of the visitors to the governorate easy.

These teams are also looking into the facilities of accommodation, food and drink, places of visits including beaches and other required services,

In cooperation with the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance and the Municipality of Dhofar, the Ministry of Tourism is providing rescue services at Al Mughsayl and Al Daharez beaches.

In cooperation with Dhofar Municipality, there are 22 mobile toilet facilities are made available.

The Ministry of Tourism is also involved in the implementation of the project to list all visitors coming to Dhofar through land route and airports.

The project is implemented by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and the Royal Oman Police between June 21 and September 21 every year.

As part of the tourism awareness drive, there are campaigns to spread messages and instructions about preventive measures during heavy rains and fog, compliance with the traffic rules, importance of preserving environment, green areas, public facilities.

These messages also have warnings about swimming risks during the Khareef season. These awareness campaigns are very intensive during the peak time of the season.

For this purpose, electronic bulletin screens and display boards are put on a number of vital locations.

The Director-general of Tourism Department said that the number of hotel establishments in the governorate reached 32 which have 3,499 rooms with 5,159 beds.

The number of hotel establishments with a five-star rating has increased to five which are expected to add 1,851 rooms by the end of this year.

A number of hotels will open up in Dhofar Governorate between May and December 2018. They included two-star and five-star hotels which would have 1,851 new rooms. This is to keep pace with the considerable growth in the tourism and increase in the number of tourists.

As part of waterfront development projects, ‘Hawana Salalah’, a water park project Hawana Aqua Park and an environmental camp Souli Camp, which have 15 environment friendly chalets were opened. There was also expansion in the Rotana Hotel and Lighthouse Salalah Beach at the beginning of this year to add more rooms.

As part of the tourism awareness drive, there are campaigns to spread messages about preventive measures during heavy rains, fog and compliance with the traffic rules