Oman to kick off $649 million tourism project

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Monday 01 Feb 2016 - 21:02 Makkah mean time-22-4-1437 Sur, Oman (IINA) - The Sultanate of Oman will kick off in the following months the first stage of a 1.8 million square meters tourism project, which comes within a strategy to develop the sector, diversify sources of the national economy, and maximize the utilization of tourism sites, Hotelier Middle East reported. The project, which is located in Ras Al-Hadd in A’Sharqiyah region, will cost around $649 million, according to the Oman Tourism Development Company. Omani Minister of Finance Darwish Al-Balushi stated that the first stage of the multi-phase project will be initiated during the first quarter of 2016. The joint venture between the Sultanate and Al-Diar Real Estate Investment Company of Qatar comes after an agreement was signed in November 2014 to set up a tourism project in Ras Al-Hadd in the A’Sharqiyah region. The project will be developed in four phases; the first one includes the establishment of a 100-room eco-themed resort, 50 hotel villas, 150 residential villas and a 7,000-sqare meter mall, set for completion by the end of 2018. Phase two involves the addition of 100 new five-star hotel rooms at the resort, as well as an additional 196 residential villas, a center for wildlife preservation and an observation park set over a 10,000 square meter area. Phase three will see the construction of a separate 200-room five-star resort, an additional 50 hotel villas, and 179 residential villas, as well as the development of a new market area covering 16,000 square meters and the construction of a specialized marine life park. The final phase of the Ras Al-Hadd project will see the opening of a 150-room five-star hotel, 50 hotel villas, 175 new residential villas, as well as the construction of a dedicated heritage village, in addition to a specialized staff accommodation zone housing 836 employees. The Qatari company said in a statement published on its website that the resort and residential developments, as well as the attractions, firmly adhere to the core themes of sustainability and responsible tourism management. AG/IINA