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Muscat Daily
3 days ago
- Business
- Muscat Daily
Unified governance framework for tourism in Oman soon
Muscat – Oman will implement an integrated governance framework for its heritage and tourism sectors by the end of 2025 aiming to align the planning and development efforts of ministries and governorates under a single system. The decision was announced following a four-day national workshop, titled 'Addressing the Challenges of Governance of Heritage and Tourism Development Management with Governorates', held from May 26 to 29. The event was organised by Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) in cooperation with Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-up Unit. The proposed framework will focus on institutional coordination, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and preparing development plans at the governorate level. It also seeks to build consensus on land allocation for heritage and tourism projects while encouraging private sector and civil society involvement. Speaking at the conclusion of the workshop, H E Salim bin Mohammed al Mahrouqi, Minister of Heritage and Tourism, said the ministry is halfway towards meeting its targets, but the growing role of governorates demands enhanced coordination. 'The governorates have become integrated tourist destinations in their own right due to their heritage and tourism assets,' he stated. He called for a unified environment that supports joint efforts between government entities, particularly at the municipal level. H E Mahrouqi identified key challenges hindering sectoral development, including limited funding, inadequate infrastructure, centralised administrative processes and restricted local authority. He stressed the need to reduce bureaucracy and promote decentralisation. 'The ministry is committed to maintaining open channels of communication with governorates and municipal councils,' he added. 'Successes in the sector must be seen as collective achievements, not those of a single institution.' Participants discussed practical strategies to overcome governance obstacles and to support the goals of Oman Vision 2040. These include raising tourism's share of GDP to 5.3%, attracting RO12bn in investments, improving Oman's ranking to within top 40 in the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Development Index, and achieving 80% satisfaction rate among tourists. Key discussion points included governance mechanisms, infrastructure needs, innovation in projects, sustainable development, and ensuring local economic benefits. Halima bint Rashid al Zaria, Chairperson of Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development ASMED urges stronger centre-governorate coordination for tourism growth Muscat – Halima bint Rashid al Zaria, Chairperson of Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED), has called for closer coordination between central authorities and governorates to support tourism and heritage development across the sultanate. Speaking at a workshop organised by Ministry of Heritage and Tourism titled 'Addressing the Challenges of Governance of Heritage and Tourism Development Management with Governorates', Halima stressed the need for joint planning and a unified vision. 'Our work must be based on coordinated plans, not on emergency reactions,' she said, underlining the importance of strategic alignment between the central government and regional administrations. Halima noted that the effectiveness of ASMED's support depends on the clarity of development plans at the governorate level. 'The more governorates have a clear plan for initiatives and events, the more effective and prepared we can be as an institution.' She said a key challenge is the lack of shared annual planning among government entities. 'We submit our annual plan to the Council of Ministers early, and so do the governors, but these plans are rarely shared between us. Exchanging and harmonising plans at the beginning of each year will significantly accelerate achievement and improve responsiveness to local needs.'
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
British travellers have fallen out of love with India – here's why
Since the pandemic, there have been innumerable instances of overtourism around the globe. Increased demand to see the world has caused air fares to surge and anti-visitor protests to mushroom. But a handful of destinations have escaped the international post-Covid crowds – among them, India, where international arrivals were down almost 10 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels in the period between January and June 2024. It's a country that should see more global visitors than it does. In 2024, India came ninth and sixth respectively in the cultural and natural resources categories of the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Development Index, but it only placed 39th overall – behind unlikely tourist destinations including Hungary and Belgium, and let down by poor scores for health and hygiene, information and continuity technology, and the labour market. The tourism industry currently accounts for a relatively low 2 per cent of India's GDP. However, with increased demand among domestic tourists (who made 2,509 million stays in the country during 2023 according to Ministry of Tourism data, compared with 18.89 million by international visitors), the government slashed its global tourism marketing budget by more than 80 per cent in 2024, while doubling its domestic one. 'Domestic tourism is booming in India,' said one operator, who asked to remain anonymous. 'Many property owners and tourist boards are happier to focus on this market as it's easier to service.' Nevertheless, some industry insiders were concerned by the news. 'This continuous reduction in funds post-Covid has resulted in the Ministry of Tourism repeatedly seeking approvals from the Finance Ministry for participation in overseas events,' Rajiv Mehra, the president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, recently told the country's Economic Times. 'This has led to diminished international representation for India, unlike competing nations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Mauritius, which invest substantially in their tourism promotions and secure greater visibility in global travel markets.' One region of India may have been particularly hard hit. In late 2024, an argument erupted between social media influencers and Goa's tourism team. Across Instagram and TikTok, videos began to appear featuring empty beaches and hotels – leaving tourism minister Rohan Khaunte livid. 'These influencers are paid influencers onboarded by people to malign Goa,' he is reported to have said at a press conference. 'As far as data is concerned, we have surpassed the figures for domestic tourist arrivals [as compared to last year]. The season has been good, exceptional… and we expect 2025 will also be good for tourism.' Despite this, stories of high prices for taxis and accommodation may have tarnished Goa's image as a backpacker's paradise, leaving new pretenders able to steal some of its market share. Sri Lanka has forged a reputation for offering fantastic accommodation and service at competitive prices, while interest continues to grow in Vietnam, which is seen as friendly and easy to explore. 'I've certainly heard rumours of Goa going off the boil,' said Nick Pulley, the founder of Selective Asia. 'It was never really an area of focus for us. The south of Goa is still home to the best of the state's beaches and there are fascinating cultural sites to be found nearby, but we favour the more remote sands of the Andaman Islands for beach.' The country as a whole also has a problem with a lack of luxury accommodation. As domestic tourism booms, foreign visitors can struggle to find space at the sorts of hotels they've grown used to elsewhere. 'When it comes to accommodation, major cities and hubs have a good range of premium and boutique options on offer, but emerging towns and destinations have a lack of high-end options which makes it harder to attract customers wanting a comfortable or luxury stay,' said Rama Mahendru, Intrepid Travel's general manager for India. Then there's the visa process. Notoriously laborious for many years, it was streamlined by the introduction of an e-visa system in 2015, but 'some travellers face problems with getting visas processed, which is a deterrent for last-minute bookings to the country,' she added. Post-pandemic popularity and marketing strategies are still having an effect too. Some other countries emerged from their lockdowns as prime bucket list fodder for big ticket trips. 'Japan is taking the focus from everywhere,' said Pulley, who noted that 40 per cent of all Selective Asia's enquiries from 2025's recent Destinations Travel Show were for the country. When the company's clients do visit India, they want to see the country differently and avoid the coach-tour thronged sites. 'Clients are looking beyond Rajasthan's Golden Triangle and a straightforward backwater of Kerala trip – they want to go further and scratch deeper beneath the surface. We are seeing growing interest in regions such as Karnataka and Gujarat,' he added. 'The north-east region, including areas like Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, are emerging as the main choice for adventure seekers who are looking for an alternative holiday with fewer crowds,' said Mahendru. 'The region offers amazing wildlife reserves, wetlands and mountain villages with interesting history. Intrepid's India Expedition: Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland visits Nagaland and includes a stay in a traditional Naga village – with the indigenous people of north-eastern India and north-west Myanmar. Travellers learn about their wildlife conservation work and get a glimpse into traditional tribal life.' It's against this backdrop that InsideAsia will launch holidays to India for the first time later in 2025. 'Regarding the visitor numbers being down, we don't make decisions based on short-term trends,' says Alastair Donnelly, Inside Travel Group's co-founder. 'India has enormous potential for our style of travel and approach. It's a crazy place and a huge amount of fun. And we like that.' It's one of the signs that the tide may be turning for tourism in India among British visitors. Passenger numbers on tours to the country with Newmarket Holidays were up 76 per cent year on year in 2024, with safari and beach extensions proving popular. Meanwhile, big-name operators Saga and Titan report a huge surge in bookings for 2026 – up 118 per cent and 78 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, in a recent announcement about spending for 2025 and 2026, the government revealed an intention to improve infrastructure and hotels near 50 key attractions, aid hospitality training, create some visa waivers and highlight wellness holidays and medical tourism. So soon, it may once again be a case of 'book this place' rather than 'watch this space'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
16-02-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
British travellers have fallen out of love with India
Since the pandemic, there have been innumerable instances of overtourism around the globe. Increased demand to see the world has caused air fares to surge and anti-visitor protests to mushroom. But a handful of destinations have escaped the international post-Covid crowds – among them, India, where international arrivals were down almost 10 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels in the period between January and June 2024. It's a country that should see more global visitors than it does. In 2024, India came ninth and sixth respectively in the cultural and natural resources categories of the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Development Index, but it only placed 39th overall – behind unlikely tourist destinations including Hungary and Belgium, and let down by poor scores for health and hygiene, information and continuity technology, and the labour market. The tourism industry currently accounts for a relatively low 2 per cent of India's GDP. However, with increased demand among domestic tourists (who made 2,509 million stays in the country during 2023 according to Ministry of Tourism data, compared with 18.89 million by international visitors), the government slashed its global tourism marketing budget by more than 80 per cent in 2024, while doubling its domestic one. 'Domestic tourism is booming in India,' said one operator, who asked to remain anonymous. 'Many property owners and tourist boards are happier to focus on this market as it's easier to service.' Nevertheless, some industry insiders were concerned by the news. 'This continuous reduction in funds post-Covid has resulted in the Ministry of Tourism repeatedly seeking approvals from the Finance Ministry for participation in overseas events,' Rajiv Mehra, the president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, recently told the country's Economic Times. 'This has led to diminished international representation for India, unlike competing nations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Mauritius, which invest substantially in their tourism promotions and secure greater visibility in global travel markets.' One region of India may have been particularly hard hit. In late 2024, an argument erupted between social media influencers and Goa's tourism team. Across Instagram and TikTok, videos began to appear featuring empty beaches and hotels – leaving tourism minister Rohan Khaunte livid. 'These influencers are paid influencers onboarded by people to malign Goa,' he is reported to have said at a press conference. 'As far as data is concerned, we have surpassed the figures for domestic tourist arrivals [as compared to last year]. The season has been good, exceptional… and we expect 2025 will also be good for tourism.' Despite this, stories of high prices for taxis and accommodation may have tarnished Goa's image as a backpacker's paradise, leaving new pretenders able to steal some of its market share. Sri Lanka has forged a reputation for offering fantastic accommodation and service at competitive prices, while interest continues to grow in Vietnam, which is seen as friendly and easy to explore. 'I've certainly heard rumours of Goa going off the boil,' said Nick Pulley, the founder of Selective Asia. 'It was never really an area of focus for us. The south of Goa is still home to the best of the state's beaches and there are fascinating cultural sites to be found nearby, but we favour the more remote sands of the Andaman Islands for beach.' The country as a whole also has a problem with a lack of luxury accommodation. As domestic tourism booms, foreign visitors can struggle to find space at the sorts of hotels they've grown used to elsewhere. 'When it comes to accommodation, major cities and hubs have a good range of premium and boutique options on offer, but emerging towns and destinations have a lack of high-end options which makes it harder to attract customers wanting a comfortable or luxury stay,' said Rama Mahendru, Intrepid Travel's general manager for India. Then there's the visa process. Notoriously laborious for many years, it was streamlined by the introduction of an e-visa system in 2015, but 'some travellers face problems with getting visas processed, which is a deterrent for last-minute bookings to the country,' she added. Post-pandemic popularity and marketing strategies are still having an effect too. Some other countries emerged from their lockdowns as prime bucket list fodder for big ticket trips. ' Japan is taking the focus from everywhere,' said Pulley, who noted that 40 per cent of all Selective Asia's enquiries from 2025's recent Destinations Travel Show were for the country. When the company's clients do visit India, they want to see the country differently and avoid the coach-tour thronged sites. 'Clients are looking beyond Rajasthan's Golden Triangle and a straightforward backwater of Kerala trip – they want to go further and scratch deeper beneath the surface. We are seeing growing interest in regions such as Karnataka and Gujarat,' he added. 'The north-east region, including areas like Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, are emerging as the main choice for adventure seekers who are looking for an alternative holiday with fewer crowds,' said Mahendru. 'The region offers amazing wildlife reserves, wetlands and mountain villages with interesting history. Intrepid's India Expedition: Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland visits Nagaland and includes a stay in a traditional Naga village – with the indigenous people of north-eastern India and north-west Myanmar. Travellers learn about their wildlife conservation work and get a glimpse into traditional tribal life.' It's against this backdrop that InsideAsia will launch holidays to India for the first time later in 2025. 'Regarding the visitor numbers being down, we don't make decisions based on short-term trends,' says Alastair Donnelly, Inside Travel Group's co-founder. 'India has enormous potential for our style of travel and approach. It's a crazy place and a huge amount of fun. And we like that.' It's one of the signs that the tide may be turning for tourism in India among British visitors. Passenger numbers on tours to the country with Newmarket Holidays were up 76 per cent year on year in 2024, with safari and beach extensions proving popular. Meanwhile, big-name operators Saga and Titan report a huge surge in bookings for 2026 – up 118 per cent and 78 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, in a recent announcement about spending for 2025 and 2026, the government revealed an intention to improve infrastructure and hotels near 50 key attractions, aid hospitality training, create some visa waivers and highlight wellness holidays and medical tourism. So soon, it may once again be a case of 'book this place' rather than 'watch this space'.
BBC News
10-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'It risks becoming a Venice in the desert': The dark side of Uzbekistan's tourism boom
The Uzbekistan government is on an ambitious tourism drive – but is sparring with heritage experts over how to protect its historical sites. The sound of a jackhammer rattles through the air. In Bukhara, a former trading hub on the ancient Silk Road in what is now Uzbekistan, tourism is the new commerce and new hotels are popping up on every street corner. I've counted three construction sites in a 100m radius outside the former caravanserai where I'm staying, and I observe the progress of a guesthouse being built just metres from a 16th-Century madrasa (school). It's a trend that's visible across the country. In the capital, Tashkent, construction work for a shopping mall lines the avenue leading up to the Hazrati Imam mosque complex, next to the shiny, almost-completed Centre for Islamic Civilisation. The small historic city of Khiva, surrounded by mud fortifications, cannot expand outwards – but mud-and-straw residences in the historic centre are being knocked down and replaced by modern hotels. It is perhaps most obvious in Samarkand, where billionaire businessman Bakhtiyor Fazilov has poured money into flashy projects to raise his home city's profile, such as a new airline, an international airport that opened in 2022 and the strange Disneyland facsimile Silk Road Samarkand, a soulless and sanitised tourist resort situated outside the city. "The concept of the Silk Road is being applied to everything," said Svetlana Gorshenina, a researcher and member of the Uzbek heritage protection association Alerte Héritage. "You have Silk Road restaurants, Silk Road shops, Silk Road tours, tourist agencies uniquely dedicated to the Silk Road. It has become our only selling point and it's self-exoticising. It's a kind of self-orientalisation, which is a hangover from colonialism." The thing is: it's working. The World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Development Index now ranks Uzbekistan at 78th out of 119 countries, moving up 16 places in the last five years. The Uzbek government is ploughing investment into its tourism sector after the country's president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, laid out his Uzbekistan 2030 strategy in September 2023, an enormous governmental plan detailing the goals to be achieved in various sectors by that date. That includes increasing the number of foreign tourists to 15 million, more than double the 6.6 million visitors to the country in 2023. He has also called for the creation of "tourist clusters" – complexes providing accommodation and other services for tourists in one place. One of these new clusters is the reason I've come to Bukhara. It's a 33-hectare site on the fringes of the old town on which a leisure complex called Eternal Bukhara will soon be built. Samarkand tycoon Fazilov has a hand in this project too: he's the chairman of one of Uzbekistan's largest contractors, Enter Engineering, which is building the complex. The company is cagey about its actual plans for the site – not least because it has already proven quite contentious. Initial plans reported in the local press described it as an "ethnographic park" that would recreate traditional Uzbek buildings such as chaikhanas (teahouses), as well as restaurants serving Uzbek cuisine and a museum about Uzbek culture. But the 3D renderings pasted on the high walls that surround the construction site show instead blocky, modernist shopping arcades and glimmering pools adorned with abstract art. "We're not trying to replicate historic buildings. We don't want to repeat history – but to create something that will have its own impact," Rustam Khaydarov, the deputy general director of Enter Engineering, told me, as we sat in a portacabin in the construction site with excavators and diggers whirring nearby. "It will be a place where people can relax, with cafes and a cultural centre for local artists to display their art. And about 70% of it will remain a green site." Enter Engineering also plans to build a number of five-star hotels, with up to 700 rooms on site. "Wealthy people already come to Bukhara but are dissatisfied with the quality of the hotels. So we want to improve the class of hotels on offer," he said. There will also be medical facilities to cater to a new type of tourist that Uzbekistan is trying to attract: visitors who come for cheap healthcare, from dentistry to plastic surgery. This area used to be Bukhara's administrative zone, with government offices and a large public sports arena. The demolition of the sports stadium im 2024 provoked a public outcry (which is rare in Uzbekistan, a country where public dissent is swiftly silenced), and Enter Engineering responded by building three more sports facilities on the town's outskirts. The site is ringed by a road, beyond which there are drab and semi-dilapidated residential apartment blocks, with many ground-floor spaces for businesses unoccupied. Although it's just a short walk to Bukhara's tourist sites and monuments, it feels a world away from the relentless tourism of the city centre. "For years, Uzbekistan has been undergoing a process of emptying city centres of their inhabitants," explained Gorshenina. "We are witnessing a transformation of towns into museum-towns that are made for tourists. In Bukhara, you already have this 'tourist zone' that is clearly separate from the rest of the town where residents live. It's become an open-air museum." An Uzbek architect, who did not want to be named for this article but whom I met in his office in Bukhara, told me, "Every year, there are more and more tourists. I have always thought of Bukhara as a living organism, and that organism is becoming very weak and fragile. It should not become a town solely for tourists but for its residents as well. It risks becoming a Venice in the desert." Alerte Héritage is fiercely opposed to the Eternal Bukhara project, in part because it says that locals were not consulted about the use of the space, and also because of the loss of important Soviet-era architecture, such as a government building that was the former regional headquarters of the Communist Party, built in 1987. It was torn down in early 2024. The Uzbek architect said that the current government was repeating mistakes from the Soviet era. "The Soviet Union destroyed a lot of heritage and replaced it with Soviet buildings because it wanted to leave its own imprint. That tradition of demolition is still – unfortunately – in our blood." Although Eternal Bukhara is not within the historical centre that is classified as a Unesco World Heritage site, it falls within the "buffer zone", which still requires Unesco validation before urban changes can be made. When contacted, Monia Adjiwanou, a spokesperson for Unesco, said that they were "closely monitoring" the situation, adding: "We hope that the authorities will comply with their commitments to the World Heritage Convention and that they will not carry out any demolition/construction project without the prior assessment of the World Heritage Committee in July 2025." Demolition on the Eternal Bukhara site is visibly ongoing, with only a handful of buildings still standing. That seems problematic for Unesco – even more so as the international organisation plans to host this year's General Conference in Uzbekistan, which would be the first time since 1986 that the annual meeting has been held outside Paris. More like this:• Central Asia's glittering new Silk Road jewel• Plov: Uzbekistan's rice dish with 'sexual power'• The Silk Road city most tourists miss "Unesco is toothless, without principles. What has it really done for Central Asia, for Uzbekistan?" asked the Uzbek architect. Both he and Alerte Héritage are unconvinced by Unesco's warnings to Enter Engineering. Khaydarov, however, assured me that the company will not launch any building work until they get Unesco's green light – which means that they could still be waiting for months before construction is able to begin. "We don't want the city's image to be damaged," Khaydarov said. "This is a reputational issue. But we chose this area because it's in the buffer zone and we are confident we will get Unesco's approval to continue." He also insisted that locals support the plans, describing it as "a social project" rather than a commercial one. "We will create minimum 15,000 jobs with this site," he promised. Uzbekistan's headlong rush into the world of mass tourism could well create thousands of jobs and boost the country's economy – but it risks bulldozing or damaging both the country's ancient heritage and vestiges of its more recent history. You only have to walk through Bukhara's covered bazaars that were once filled with Uzbek silk and crafts and are now teeming with imported, mass-produced goods to get a feel for what the country may look like in just a few years. -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
