Muscat: Oman is looking to push tourism to a far greater proportion of its GDP with cruise shipping to the fore of this aim, said Ahmed bin Nasser al Mehrzi, the Sultanate’s Minister of Tourism. Tourism accounted for 6.6% of GDP in 2012.
The transformation of Port Sultan Qaboos into a tourism and cruise ship precinct is designed to re-establish Muscat as the maritime gateway to the Gulf of Arabia. Plans to transform it were first announced in the middle of last year.
In December Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman announced plans to establish common operational and technical standards to promote the region as a cruise destination. [12/02/14]
