Oman has great potential for water metro taxi

With vast seafront area and projects overlooking the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, the Sultanate of Oman has a great potential to develop water metro taxi service capitalising on the increasing tourism demand and to act as a feeder service while creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs, according to experts.

The water metro developed along the coastline of Oman will connect all major projects on the sea side and will target both the tourists and those using residential as well as commercial properties alongside.

Speaking to the Observer on the sidelines of Horwath HTL Tourism Conference, Dr S Jeevan, CMD, Samudra Shipyard Pvt Ltd who delivered a keynote address on Muscat Water Metro, said that the proposed water metro service is backed in line with the Vision 2040 where the government has geared to make tourism one of the significant contributors to the economic development of the Sultanate and significant investment opportunities and tourism initiative implementation plans have been developed in the country.

“With lots of waterfront properties and places of interest, sea transport has great potential as the country has only land connectivity. We have identified the routes with a metro connectivity including the Royal Opera House Muscat, that can bring in a lot of tourism activities and fetch tourism revenue,” said Dr Jeevan.

“We have created a framework for introducing it and now we are working with a couple of companies to fund it and most probably we will be working with one company which has been shortlisted. With the government support and once it is done, we are confident to go ahead in less than 15 months. We have already signed two MoUs for the same,” he added.

The two MoUs include one for building the infrastructure including the jetty, the bay and the yard while the other one is for implementing the project and the yard that will be functioning as a boatbuilding for fishing, leisure and tourism.

Philip Bacon, Senior Director, who is also a member of the ICAEW and of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, added that the water metro can be an innovative and sustainable mode of transportation that connects various governates through its intricate network of waterways.

“For the influx of tourism to be managed and flourish; sustainable, environment friendly, and efficient mode of transportation are key to connect various parts of the city. With over 3,000plus km of coastline in Oman, the development of Water Metro shall play as an innovative and sustainable mode of transportation that connects various governorates through its intricate network of waterways,” Philip said.

According to the promoters of the water metro, the service will cover about 45 nautical miles, roughly converted into 70 kilometres using five yachts and the job creation is plentiful. The proposed water metro can also act as a feeder to land transport and increase the job potential.

SCOPE OF TOURISM

Horwath HTL Tourism Conference in Oman kickstarted at the Crowne Plaza on Monday gathering stakeholders from the relevant industries and discussed how strategies and initiatives can be formulated to attract and support the hospitality and tourism industry in Oman.

James Chappell, Global Business Director of Crowe Horwath discussed on the global trends in tourism where he pointed that tourism, for many countries in the region, accounts as a healthy contributor towards the GDP that enables extensive investments from public and private sector.

“While many countries, including Oman, have identified Tourism as the enabler for significant growth,” said James, who is a member of the advisory board of the International Hotel Investment Forum and the HOTCO investment conference which enables him to have vast experience in the field of hospitality and tourism.

The conference identified that hotel valuations vary significantly considering hotel rooms are highly perishable and they are unique in nature as real estate assets. Hotels possess diverse features, including tangible assets like spa and restaurant equipment, as well as intangible assets such as reputation, brand affiliation, and staff. These complexities make hotel valuation vary from other types of real estate appraisals.

Global events encourage tourism and attract travellers from around the world. Given the deep history and cultural charm of Oman, a Muscat Biennale can be organised of contemporary art and sculpture from various countries. A common curatorial theme can be organised, providing a framework for exploring contemporary social, economic, and cultural ideas in an international context.

Bose Krishnamachari, a leading painter and art curator, shed light on the opportunities of organising Muscat Biennale and how it can become a platform of generating distinguished travellers to the country. Oman has previously been represented through local artists at the Venice Biennale and conducting a similar event in Muscat shall further encourages the participation of local artists on a global platform.