OMAN AS AN INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS' DESTINATION

Oman as an International Tourists' Destination



Oman as an International Tourists' Destination

In this research paper we aim to analyze that how can the current strategic plan be strengthened in order to meet the changing needs of the market place. The Sultanate of Oman is a country in southwest Asia (Haugen, 2009, 45). It borders with the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea to the south and east, and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast. 

According to the senior official, tourism of the country makes about 1,300 million dollars annually, which represents 2.9 percent of GDP. The country currently has 219 hotels. Oman has almost three million inhabitants. The population consists of Arabs, Baluch and immigrants from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh) and Africa. The official language is Arabic, but English, Baluchis, Urdu and several Indian dialects are also widespread in the population (Ejaz 2011, 80).

Oman today has an economy based on exploitation of large reserves of natural gas and oil. The system has been controlled by the reigning monarch and members of the government. From the year 2000, there was a process of liberalization in two ways: first, it tried to disentangle the economic and commercial activity of political power, typical of an absolutist system, and the other facilitated the privatization of farms ordered mining. The serious social imbalances that still exist maintain a level of unemployment among the country's population of 15%. It has been declining over the past five years, with a progressive decrease in labor from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan or of India. At the same time, it has increased the heavy industry for processing of products and diversifying the economy.

During the last couple of years, Oman had the threat that the oil reserves of the country is going to end in some decades, therefore, they have focused their realm of interests in various other sectors including tourism. The country's environment is quite stable in comparison with other Islamic countries.

Different countries have positioned itself in different ways to create a competitive edge. Egypt has focused on its old civilization, United States has focused on its diversity and modernity, and India has focused on its eastern culture (S?ulh?, 2000, 77).

The researcher is in the position of evaluating the strategic plan because the current strategic plan is not meeting its expected results.

The methodology of the research will undertake the following efforts:

A Literature review on the tourism industry of Oman has been done to allow us to be in line with the statistics, current trends and, the prime attraction places of Oman. The literature review has encompassed the evaluation of the strategic plan against the current and future expectation of the market for the travel (Miller, 2008, 110). The study will cover the following areas:

Academic Literature review in relation to the development of strategic plan

A secondary research into the growth of tourism in the Gulf state in general and Oman in particular in order to understand the opportunities and threats

The comparison and contrast of the current strategic plan and future expectation has assisted us to understand and formulate the strategic plan for ...