OMAN DAILY OBSERVER – SALALAH — Preparations are now under way in Dhofar Governorate for the Khareef or monsoon season which climatically begins on June 21 and continues till September 22 every year. The Office of the Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar, represented by Dhofar Municipality, is working to portray Salalah as a modern city that has all necessary services of a major tourist destination.

The month-long Salalah Tourism Festival, which will, this year, begin on July 1, is one of the major events in promoting tourism in the Sultanate, particularly during the monsoon season. The dualisation of main roads in Salalah city like the July 23 street, Um Al Ghawarif Street and Salalah Ring Road has been made to ease traffic during the season. The project has been undertaken by the municipality and the Supreme Town Planning Committee.

The Tourism Ministry is also preparing tourism development projects, including Salalah Beach Resort (first stage), Al Sawda Island project, the Commercial-Tourism Complex named World of Salalah (Aalam Salalah), Al Baleed Resort and Al Shuwaimiyah Resort. Zahrat al Khareef, constructed at Al Wadi Area in Salalah, is one of the major residential projects. The project, built on an area of 29,000 square metres, will have 586 housing units.

The construction of the new Salalah Airport (whose agreement was signed last March at a cost of RO 294.1 million) will facilitate the movement of citizens between Salalah and Muscat. The project, which will be constructed in 30 months, will have a parking area for 2200 vehicles. Recently, the Salalah-Thumrait dual carriageway was partly opened. Traffic is regular on the 21-km blacktop from Aqbat Hamrir (mount) to Qairoon Heriti and Wadi Hareet.

Another section of the carriageway, a 41-km stretch, will be opened by the end of this year from Wadi Hareet to Thamrait-Marmul crossroads. Also opened recently was the 27-km Aseer-Jahnain-Hajeef, which passes through various tourism hotspots. The14-km Hashir -Tawi Aateer road will be opened shortly. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources is developing creeks like Khour Taqah in the Wilayat of Taqa where basic utilities are being added to the project.

The ministry also is developing the springs in Dhofar Governorate like Tabraq Spring and Ain Athom by supplying them with integrated services. On the other hand, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) is intensifying its efforts to provide every possible assistance, guidance and awareness to road users along the highway leading to Salalah. The ROP also maintains the security and safety of all visitors to the governorate.

As for the camping services in the governorate, international hotels such as Crowne Plaza, Hilton and Marriot started preparing attractive programmes for their visitors during the Khareef season. The same also applies to hotels, hotel flats, furnished apartments, villas and apartment blocks.

Shopping centres and commercial shops in the city also witness considerable development. These include Salalah souqs where frankincense is in abundance, as well as silverware, pottery, Omani halwa (traditional sweets) and local agricultural products such as coconuts. As many as 262,203 people visited Salalah last year during the Khareef season, compared to 293,043 in 2009. The decrease is due to the advent of Ramadhan which coincided with the peak of the season.

The statistics and surveys on the visitors of Khareef Salalah 2010 show that, during the period from June 21 to September 21, the majority of visitors to Dhofar came from GCC states, 98.7 per cent of the total. The statistics also indicate that the period from July 23 to August 6, 2010 represents the peak of tourist visits in the governorate. As many as 143,723 visitors, comprising 54.8 per cent of the total, arrived in Salalah, while the evening of July 31 witnessed the largest number of visitors who entered the governorate. — ONA