Oman Tourism Awards to be unveiled on Feb 25

Muscat, Jan 22 - Many individuals and entities are scrambling for the first edition of the Oman Tourism Awards since its announcement in December. The results will be announced on February 25, coinciding with the Sultanate of Oman celebrating the Arab Day of Tourism.
Adil bin al Mirdas al Busaidy, Tourism Affairs Adviser at the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), said that the tourism sector has to be promoted to enable it for playing effective role in diversification of the economy. Oman Tourism Awards encourage individuals and institutions of the sector to compete with each other and improve their performance.
Mohammad bin Mahmoud al Zadjali, Director-General of Investor Services and Quality Management, MoT, said honouring the individuals and institutions for their contribution to the tourism industry would motivate the sector’s employees to improve the quality of their services. It would also inculcate the spirit of creativity and promote best practices.
He added that one of the objectives of the award was to provide standards to support the development and strategic planning in the tourism sector. Highlighting of the successful models will help in making qualitative leap forward in investment of tourism projects.
Salem bin Oday al Maamari, Director-General of Tourism Promotions, said that the awards would add value to the tourism services.
For example, the category of institutions includes more than one award. It includes the category of “Best Hotel Facility Award,’’ where one can apply for hotel apartments, 2-star hotels, 3-star hotels, 4-star hotels and “Best Inn Award” (heritage, green or guests) and “Best Tourist Company Award” (large, small and medium)
Any individual or institution can register for the “Best Restaurant Award” category. It has two categories; “Restaurants providing Omani cuisine” and “Restaurants providing international cuisine.’’
The “Best Media Initiative Award” are given to the best television or radio programmes, newspaper or website or social media account, which provide support to the Sultanate’s tourism sector.
Oman Tourism Awards also honour the “oldest person in the tourism industry,” based on longest tenure in the tourism sector and contribution to the development of the sector.
There is also a best tourist guide (Omani or foreigner) category of the award. For this category, evaluation would be made on the basis of prominent tours or the visit of delegations in which the nominee had played a role in introducing the Omani heritage, as well as those guides who have made personal achievements either locally or internationally.
For this, the opinion of the tourists would also be taken into account. This is expected to improve the work of the tourist guide and their value in the tourism promotion.
The Oman Tourism Awards did not overlook the interest of an important area supporting the tourism industry in the Sultanate. It is the craftsmanship. The award includes a category of “best craftsmanship award” which will be given on the use of local elements for production, marketing, innovation, creativity and potential for international expansion.