Although Salalah is Oman's second-largest city, after Muscat, the capital, it is relatively underdeveloped.
It has only three upmarket hotels: a Hilton, a Crowne Plaza and a Marriott that opened last year.
"For Marriott International, it is the first property in the sultanate," said Steffi Chollet, an executive at the Salalah Marriott Resort. About 20 per cent of the hotel's guests during the monsoon are from the UAE, she said.
The area is increasingly popular for diving, Ms Chollet says.
The Marriott resort is partly owned by Qatar National Hotels as part of a 1 billion rial (Dh1bn) tourism and property development.
More investment is going into the Salalah area's tourism industry.
Salalah Beach, a 950-hectare project, is being built by the Egyptian company Orascom Development Holding in a joint venture with Omran, the Omani government's tourism development and investment agency. This is to include a Club Med resort, a Moevenpick hotel and a resort managed by Abu Dhabi's Rotana Hotels. There will also be villas, apartments, a golf course and shops, with the overall development envisaged as an integrated town.
Orascom owns 70 per cent of the joint venture company, Muriya Tourism Development, and Omran has the remaining 30 per cent.
