Hiking on frankincense trail in Salalah today

SALALAH, March 11 - The Directorate General of Tourism in Dhofar Governorate and Al Luban Land, a group of young enthusiasts, have organised an event titled ‘Hiking the trail – the Road to Frankincense’ on Tuesday and has extended invitation across the communities living in Salalah. As a mark of encouragement to the participants some raffle draws and prizes have also been lined up for the event, as the Ministry of Tourism officials are claiming to be ready for “a small but important event to create awareness among local people for tourism activities and impress upon the communities to keep the tourism spots clean for guests coming from far away countries.” Marwan Abdul Hakeem al Ghassani, Director of Tourism Promotion Department, called the event an effort to “enhance the culture of adventure tourism, exploring the beautiful tourist places, highlighting the frankincense tree and its historical status. Salalah has natural advantage of tourism in whole of the Gulf region. The destination attracts tourists from many European countries. Any boost to tourism is a boost ultimately to the economy of the country,” he said. This is an attempt also to focus on the importance of maximising the economic benefits of frankincense products and its derivatives and impress upon local people not to indulge in any practice that harms the frankincense tree, which is also a symbol of Oman. The trekking will start from Raysut Mosque on Tuesday at 9am and finish at 12 noon. The participating trekkers would go up to frankincense plantation site in Wadi Raysut and come back after covering a distance of seven kilometres. Al Ghassani is hoping good attendance, as Al Luban Land group has people with interest in adventure tourism and the group members are very active in organising outdoor events for communities and schools. “I call upon people to take part in the event in large numbers and get a new feel of tourism strength of Salalah,” he said.