Mezoon Travel To Focus On Inbound Tourism
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www.timesofoman.com The Sultanate of Oman is the Middle East destination of future tourism and Mezoon Travel, one of the leading travel and tour operator, is all set to cash in on the inbound travel tourism, which is a large growth area.
Behman M. Homji, general manager of Mezoon Travel, speaking to Times Business in an exclusive chat, said that Mezoon, as a travel company has made a very conscious decision to diversify into tourism business, especially inbound tourism, as this is a large growth area.
As part of its diversification process, Mezoon has rebranded its inbound tourism business under the name ‘Mezoon Destination Management’. “We see inbound tourism as essential for the economy of Oman and something that all travel agents will be looking into,†Behman said.
Behman opined that travel operators and agents all across Europe and other countries are eyeing Oman as the next most favoured destination after Dubai.
This was amply evident at various international travel marts and exhibitions where special handouts and exclusive brochures on Oman were prominently displayed.
Says Behman: “Dubai has taken the lead and has done extremely well in tourism but its attractions are very limited. However, Oman is picking up as was seen in the recent exhibitions and this is very encouraging.â€Â
According to him, the tourism trend is changing. “Now tour operators are asking us to provide a package of six to seven days of holidays in Oman, then three to four days of shopping in Dubai. Earlier it was in the reverse order,†Behman disclosed.
Behman further says: “One of the reasons for this positive outlook towards Oman is because the government under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has been extremely farsighted in discerning the type of tourism they wanted and controlled the tourism accordingly.â€Â
The second reason for the changing trends is that infrastructure is fast catching up to meet the demands. “The Barr Al Jissa resort with 680 rooms is one the major project which is going to ease the pressure on infrastructure and there are a number of projects that are on the verge of completion,†he said.
Mezoon is looking at the niche tourist segment, which is not interested in night clubs and discos. “There are people who want to know and see the culture, history and environment,†he said. Behman underlined the fact that Oman is still Arabia. “You can see that as soon as you enter the airport. The history and culture is not found in any other part,†he says.
“Inbound tourism is a big future and obviously this is also a very important part for us because we represent ten airlines as GSA,†says Behman.
“The whole travel business is changing. Now it is not just inbound tour operator and outbound tour operator. It is now a whole management structure you have to put together. For example, we had a whole team coming from Italy who wanted to do desert crossing. This is an enormous task for which massive logistics have to be arranged,†Behman explained.
Continuing further he said: “We wanted to reflect the change in our attitude and the change in what is required for tourism. We are not just happy to bring people to show Oman because it is beautiful but we wanted to get into the niche tourism like sport fishing, desert crossing etc.â€Â
In conclusion Behman says: “We think Oman needs tourism and His Majesty has made tourism a priority for this country and it is our duty to go along with what the country needs and wants. That will be our thrust.â€Â
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