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08.01.2009
18:45
PĂĄgina 1
Thursday, January 22, 2009
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Oman
Tourism
Sports
Oman is the big buzz
Soccer is a hugely popular sport here,
with a total of 43 clubs in the country, according to FIFA. Oman has a number of promising players, alongside more established figures, and some 20 Omanis play in Qatar’s national league. Ali Al-Habsi, the national side’s goalkeeper, plays for Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League, and young midfielder Khalifa Ayil is seen as the future of Omani soccer. Ayil was courted by Arsenal, but his club, Al Saad of Qatar, refused to sanction a move. He spent part of last year on loan at Spanish side Celta Vigo. World Cup qualification as yet eludes the sultanate – in a tight group in the Asian qualifying preliminary round, it lost out to Japan and Bahrain. However, the July appointment of Claude le Roy as national manager is a fillip for a team whose international rank is a modest 95. Le Roy took Cameroon to the final of the African Cup of Nations in 1986 and has served in advisory roles at both AC Milan and Paris St. Germain.
CHRISTINE OSBORNE CORBIS/CORDON PRESS
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of color, accompanied by the sounds and smells of countless generations of trade. Further afield, scattered oases offer verdant relief in a sprawling sandscape over which the imposing Hajar Mountains cast their jagged shadows. Jebel Shams looms 10,000 feet over winding wadis and deep ravines – a Middle Eastern Grand Canyon. The ancient capital of Nizwa, Qantab beach, the green hills of Jabal Aktar‌ all combine to make Oman a land of diversity and beauty unlike any other in the region. Visitors from the emirates come in droves to see the effect of the khareef – the rainy season – that transforms the southern desert into an emerald swath of grassy hills around Dhofar, an event as unique in the region as the country of Oman itself. For those for whom the romance of the Arabian desert remains undiminished, and in line with the opening of Oman’s attractions to the outside world, since 2007 Desert Nights Camp offers accommodation in luxury Bedouin-style tents surrounded by stunning views of red dunes. Visitors can ride camels into the sunset, take a desert safari or go dune-bashing. At dusk, a traditional Omani lamb barbeque is prepared for guests round the campfire. As Oman strives to create a diversified 21st century global economy, tourism is set to play an increasingly larger role in its future prosperity. Indeed, tourism is now the second-largest destination for incoming investment. Over the next ten years, billions of dollars will be invested in
new lavish resorts, hotels, and mixed tourism-residential developments throughout the country. One such project is The Wave, now under construction along 3.7 miles of waterfront near Muscat. Aimed at the holiday residence market, The Wave has taken advantage of the changes in law that allow foreigners to own property in certain tourism developments, and was one of the first new projects in the country to offer buyers freehold titles. The Wave’s selection of 4,000 luxury apartments, townhouses and villas stirred a great deal of interest at the first auctions. Properties were snatched up, with one waterfront villa selling for nearly $6.5 million. As the tourism industry grows, however, a watchful eye is being kept on its development, with the intention of protecting the vast treasures of this land, including its environment and traditional architecture, and to ensure that supply does not outstrip demand as has happened in other Gulf countries. Oman only receives a million visitors per year. The Ministry of Tourism has said that it would like to see the sector’s contribution to GDP double to $1.5 billion over the next decade, or to 3 percent of the total from a current and very low 1.5 percent – a reasonable goal. Creating the sector from scratch, as it were, has allowed the government to shape it as it feels appropriate, and efforts have been focused on the creation of a more upscale, rather than mass, destination. As such, and luckily for us, it appears as if Oman, the ‘pearl of mystic Arabia’, the fabled home of Sinbad the sailor, and the source of frankincense for the Queen of Sheba, will retain its exotic allure for generations of visitors to come.
REUTERS/NACHO DOCE/CORDON PRESS
otted with ancient forts and widelens vistas, Oman has ambled into the 21st century with considerably more style than its gatecrashing Emirati counterparts. Here, beauty is more than skin deep: it penetrates every pore of the country. Where Dubai’s skyscrapers aim to land a slap on the face of global consciousness, Oman’s allure, carried on the desert breeze, whispers into its ear. If a beach is beautiful as it is, why build another one with thousands of tons of sand from the desert? If the sands of Oman’s interior form a shifting landscape that has captivated travelers for centuries, why tilt the timer before it runs its course? This is evident upon skidding to a halt at Muscat’s Seeb International Airport. Flanked by ochre hills and lined with palm trees, the small airport is equally quietly efficient. Visitors are often surprised that their luggage is ready for collection before immigration is cleared. Once in the capital, Muscat, one can see that the description by famed Arab sailor Ahmed bin Majid al-Najdi of the city as “a port the like of which cannot be found in the whole world, where there is business and good things that cannot be found elsewhere,� is as true today as it was in 1490. Large-scale development in the Omani capital is shunned in favor of traditional architectural concepts. Whitewashed houses stand like sentinels in the surrounding hills, while the city’s commerce manifests itself in a mosaic
PAULE SEUX/HEMIS/CORBIS/CORDON PRESS
ROLF RICHARDSON/ROBERT HARDING WORLD IMAGERY/CORBIS/CORDON PRESS
The last well-kept secret of the Gulf is boosting tourism, but not at the cost of its natural beauty
Ali Al-Habsi, the Omani goalkeeper of the British soccer team Bolton Wanderers, during a match against Portugal’s Sporting of Lisboa, in March 2008.
The first Asian Beach Games were inaugurated in October in Bali with as much pomp and ceremony as the Olympics or the World Cup. Spectacular opening and closing ceremonies marked the event, which drew 6,000 athletes from 43 Asian countries, competing in 11 beach sports disciplines. Indonesia, the host nation, were the overwhelming winners, with 23 golds. Oman won only one event, but it was a gratifying victory – the Omani beach soccer team beating sporting archrivals the UAE 31 in the final. The sultanate will host the next Games in 2010 and preparations are already well under way for the building of Oman’s first ever world-class sports village in Musannah, near Muscat. “The project is running on a challenging schedule, and every detail is being re-checked to ensure quality,� says Wael Al Lawati, CEO of Omran, the government’s tourism and development arm. “Implementation of phase one is going ahead at a very impressive rate, and we anticipate equal success with other phases.�
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