[Oman-l] Re: Oman tourist statistics

[Perry H]

I have no idea what is 'true' in this sense of who is really a 'holiday
maker'. perhaps the figure includes internal tourists (but I have no idea
how this figure is calculated), gulfy tourists who dash down to Salalah for
the rainy season, and all those other folks who fly in from other parts,
including those Joachim notes. Even so 600K seems somewhat
'optimistic'.
Travelling to Oman is not an easy thing to do. The current
policy in Oman is controversial (here in Oman), a lot of people question
this
policy which is known as 'quality tourism'. This is a preference for the
'blue rinse' set who will fly in, stay a week or so in an expensive hotel,
take a 2-3 guided tours, also expensive, and fly out. It is obviously
intended to limit the back packers. Perhaps not such a bad idea, but at the
moment few of this latter group would be attracted by the lack of middle or
lower end facilities that exist here.
As well as that, they would have to
acquire a lot of information in the short space of time they were here, as
information is hard
won, guidebooks etc are usually misleading, and getting about would probably
require hiring a 4x4. Also very expensive. I have seen a few bicycle
tourists here, well 3 actually, one who had ridden from Salalah to Nizwa
(!!!), and another couple of Dutch thrillseekers trying to ride from Muscat
down to Tiwi. They didn't even have hats! This is NOT a road to ride on a
bike, unless you are VERY hardy indeed. They didn't make it, they gave up.

Having said all this Oman is a fantastic place to tour around in, its safe,
you can camp just about anywhere, and it's hell exotic. But as a 'blow in'
tourist I don't think its possible unless you have  a LOT of money and are
prepared to rough it a bit - I.e. camp. You also need to do you're homework,
and have some luck and enough time to make mistakes.
Having gone through the process myself over a one year period of weekend
internal touring I'm tempted to set up a website to discuss this. Problem is
it could get out of date quickly, and I don't know how long I will stay
here.
Anyone interested in information is welcome to contact me.
I still find the 600K number hard to swallow. Travelling about I have
seen/met few on the road who were not internal tourists. I often check out
the hotels as a point of interest. Most offer good services, but aren't
cheap. There are very few facilities outside of the capital area, and Sur,
Sohar, Nizwa and Salalah. A second rate hotel in  Khasab (Musandam)
incredibly overpriced.


Best Regards

Perry H