According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the annual growth rate projected for the Sultanate of Oman is projected from six to eight percent until 2017 as new investments pour in for development.
Riding on this growth, experts gathered at the regional briefing on Oman organised by the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference.
Filippo Sona, director and head of Hotels in MENA for Colliers International, citing a study titled Oman: Economy Hotel – Market Gap, says Oman continues to develop as a tourist destination by investing in large scale projects- primarily in Muscat- which contribute to building the ‘Oman Brand’.
“The majority of economy hotels in Oman are either locally branded or unbranded, many of which are not purpose built and of a limited size. Due to fragmented nature of the market, hotel apartments and guest houses tend to compete with the economy hotel market, as there is a lack of differentiation between products from a consumer standpoint,” Sona explained further.
Joining Sona in the discussions of the development of Oman’s economy and mid-market hotel segments were Hussain Al Rakhis, business development manager of Action Hotels, the Owners & Operators of ibis Muscat and Holiday Inn Muscat-Al Seeb and Hala Matar Choufany, Regional Managing Director of HVS Hospitality Services.
Latest industry figures show 6,616 hotel rooms and service apartments are currently in the pipeline for Muscat in the next five years as confirmed by hotel developers. All of forthcoming hotel supply, however, is in the four and five stars segments.
Year on year AHIC attracts over 500 attendees from over 40 countries. In 2013 it was addressed by more than 121 industry leaders.
Comments are closed.