Oman to compete with UAE for big conventions

Oman is investing heavily in developing a home grown conventions industry to compete with its neighbours.

The Mutrah Corniche in downtown Muscat. Oman has just 12,500 hotel rooms but expects to add another 3,000 in the coming year. Silvia Razgova / The National

Oman is bidding to attract more business travellers to the country as it competes with the UAE to host big conventions.

While the sultanate still has a shortage of hotel rooms, the US$1.8 billion (Dh6.61bn) Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (Ocec) in Muscat expects to bridge some of the gap between supply and demand when it is completed.

Oman has just 12,500 rooms but expects to add another 3,000 in the next year to meet anticipated demand from the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry - known as Mice.

"Oman is trying to expand in the current market and open in new markets," said Haitham Mohammed Ghasani, the director of tourism promotion at the tourism ministry, on the sidelines of the Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition 2013 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

"The good thing is that Omanis are now investing in hotels."

The country received 1.4 million business travellers last year - most from the Arabian Gulf, the United Kingdom and Germany.

"That is not a very big number given the size and potential of the whole country," Mr Ghasani said. The Ocec, near the international airport, will incorporate about 1,000 new rooms.

The government-owned exhibition centre is slated to open towards the end in 2015, with the convention centre expected to complete a year later. The 1 million square metre development will include four hotels and a shopping mall. The centre will include a 3,200-seat auditorium. Omran, the government agency that delivers projects and manages assets and investments in the tourism sector, is finalising contracts with hotel operators.

"The Omanis are heavily involved in regional and international organisations for decades, and these wanted to come there [for many years]," said Rochelle Uechtritz, the group manager for AEG Ogden, which is marketing and managing the convention centre.

These includes organisations in transport, oil and gas, medicine and education. AEG Ogden manages 18 venues in Middle East, Asia Pacific and Australia.

Ocec is already a finalist for a 2017 event with 1,500 delegates. It is also bidding for a medical event with 3,000 delegates.

The sultanate is also focused on East Asian countries - such as South Korea, China and Japan - to attract business travellers, Mr Ghasani said.