Press Releases

The Ministry of Tourism and Oman Air will kick off their largest ever marketing campaign in the GCC on 22 February 2009. Running for four months, the campaign is a joint initiative by the Ministry of Tourism, Oman Air and is supported by Oman’s major hotels and resorts.

The GCC is Oman’s largest tourism market that has seen significant growth in visitor arrivals by both air and road in recent years.

Her Excellency Dr Rajiha Abdul Amer Ali, Oman’s Minister of Tourism said that an increase in Oman’s marketing effort in the GCC was signalled to the industry last June.

"I am delighted to see our partners rise to the challenge. It is another sign of industry maturity and alignment,” she said.

The Minister for Tourism also said that their marketing effort in the GCC region will take advantage of increasing demand of the visitors that come to Oman and the lower-cost of air access. "We have also decided as an industry to enter and develop the Saudi Arabia market which we see as having untapped potential” she said.

The campaign coincides with the Oman Air’s ongoing expansion. Peter Hill, Oman’s Air’s Chief Executive Officer said that Oman Air is investing heavily to boost connectivity.

"By the end of March, we will operate around 120 services per week to GCC city gateways, a vast improvement on current schedules,” Hill said.

“We are delighted to see the level of industry involvement and cooperation. We have never worked so closely, and we are learning from our shared experiences from the current campaign running in London. This experience will allow us to tweak the GCC campaign to deliver value-based offers to each country, to accommodate their national and expatriate residents. These packages will be sold by Oman Air and our trade partners,” Peter Hill said.

Between 22 February and 4 March, the Ministry of Tourism, Oman Air, and major hotels will run trade briefings in all GCC markets.

Campaign partners include Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa, Al Bustan Palace Hotel, Crowne Plaza (Muscat and Salalah), Inter Continental Muscat, Grand Hyatt, The Chedi, Radison SAS, Park Inn, Al Nahda Resort and Spa, Golden Tulip Resorts and Salalah Hilton.