Tourism in Salalah needs diversification

Dr Dileep M.R.

Salalah, the emerald land in the Middle East, has been the mainstay of the Sultanate’s tourism, and indeed, the influx of international tourists to this nature’s bounty is steadily increasing. Salalah enjoys a unique position in the region with its inimitable Khareef and the greenery that lures nature lovers for an everlasting experience.

Salalah is all set to welcome Khareef, and this time an increased inflow of tourists is expected after the Ramadan ends. Tourism there is aptly being complemented by the continuous development of quality infrastructure.

Yet, Salalah faces inevitable diversification of its attractions and amenities for tourism to gain the status most competent single tourist destination in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Using greenery to promote tourism in the city draws tourists only during a single season of the year.

Careful and strategic diversification is of paramount significance in order to achieve a yearround tourist season.

It cannot be questioned that tourism there is progressing at a faster rate as remarkable growth in tourist arrivals can be seen every year. In 2013, the total number of visitors during Khareef season (June 21 to September 21) increased by 23.5 per cent to 433,639, compared to 351,195 visitors during the same period in 2012.

A report of the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) says that Dhofar Governorate witnessed a year-on-year growth of 24.1 per cent last year. The overall number of visitors, including Omanis, stood at 352,755 in the period between June 21 and August 20, compared to 303,365 in the same period in 2013. This represented an annual growth of 16.3 per cent.

Khareef represents the breathtaking rainy season when the mountains around the city and every inch of land turns to a bright green shade. The sparkling greenery, intermittent drizzling, cool temperatures, pristine wadies, picturesque waterfalls and many other features entice tourists from in and out of the country.

Tourist inflow to Salalah is very low in other seasons and tourism industry in those seasons is depending mainly on charter tourism and cruise tourism. The extreme dip in demand is adverse for the industry to survive, and such a situation does not help it to flourish. Cruise tourism is characterised by the short term visits of tourists to land based attractions while most of their leisure time is spent aboard a luxurious and exclusive ship. During the cruise the ship calls in to ports, staying for various lengths of time, ranging from a few hours to several days. Tourists visit local attractions and then return to the ship. Yet, their spending inside the destination where they visit is very low and hence economic benefit of cruise tourism is rather very limited. Salalah is already an established as a leading transit point for cruise tourists. In the last season, port of Salalah received 38 cruises carrying 32,150 tourists from different parts of the world.

Charter tourism is another major segment of tourism in Salalah. In this major hotels receive groups of tourists in a charter flight. Compared to cruise tourism, economic benefits of charter tourism are more. Charter tourism to Salalah has seen significant growth in recent years. In the last winter season, it was estimated to have more than 20,000 charter tourists to visit Salalah from European countries including Sweden, Germany, Italy and Poland. Expansion of accommodation industry in Salalah is very sluggish particularly due to the seasonal effect. As compared a few upmarket hotels, other accommodation units are relatively less. Establishing hotels and resorts have limitation as maintenance cost during off season becomes a matter of concern. The demand for accommodation during Khareef is extremely high and it is being primarily met by unclassified apartments which do not have the industry characteristics and most of which are non-serviced.

Niche tourism or Special Interest Tourism (SIT) can be promoted well in Salalah. For instance, with Al Baleed, Khor Rori, and Shisr; the archeological remains of Salalah can be brought out as a SIT package to be promoted internationally. Tourism centred on fishing, golf, health, mountaineering, adventure, desert, cultural heritage and business can all be promoted. Assistant. Professor, Salalah College of Applied Sciences, Ministry of Higher Education