SALALAH, Oct 3 - The Sultan Qaboos Centre for Culture and Recreation (SQYCCR) gave an entirely new dimension to events in Salalah and played a crucial role in promoting Salalah as an event destination. Not only it stood tall and magnificent for the event participants, it worked as an architectural ambassador for the city luring as many as 65 big and small conferences in 2018. Twenty-five out of these 65 events happened only during the Khareef season. Opened in November 2016, the Youth Centre saw busiest season in 2018, especially during the Khareef season when there were back to back events lined up at the centre, as it emerged as the first choice of the event organisers of all sorts.
Dr Mansoor al Touqi, SQYCCR Director, admitted the rush at the centre during the Khareef season, as an opportunity to showcase among the event organisers and participants the facilities and services and the very location, which popular not among the Middle Eastern residents but also among Europeans and other continents.
“We are getting regular inquiries from organisers and we are expecting very busy 2019 due to its popularity among the participants and ‘word of mouth’ publicity. I am proud that each and every participant have positive feedback about the centre,” he said.
Commenting on the features of the centre, Dr Al Touqi said: “It is spread over 237,000sqm and the sprawling youth complex has provisions also for the children and elderly people. It is divided in two main zones — Centre for Art and Culture and Centre for Physical Activities and Entertainment besides provisions for a large number of outdoor activities.”
The Centre for Art and Culture, according to Dr Mansoor, has three independent clubs named as Culture Club, Art Club and Heritage Club. Each of the clubs has their roles defined and aimed mainly at offering the youth facilities for their overall growth.
This centre has a library, classrooms, computer labs and an auditorium which can accommodate 120 people at a time. The multipurpose hall in this zone is fitted with theatre facility. Fully justifying the name, the Centre for Art and Culture also has facilities for photography, drawing and craft development.
Similarly the Centre for Physical Activities and Entertainment has Sports Club, Entertainment Club, and Health and Fitness Club. This Centre also has provisions for talent hunt and activities for people with special needs.
“The sports zone is divided in two sections, one for men and another with all the facilities for women. Both the sections have multipurpose halls with indoor tracks. This is first such facility in Oman and which can be used any time of the year for athletic purposes,” said Dr Touqi.
He assured that the SQYCCR would be a representative activity centre for all as many activity stations were yet to be fully operational.
Kaushalendra Singh
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