A boost for business tourism as Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre drives MICE travellers to the Sultanate

Business travel to the Sultanate is set to get a major boost following the opening of the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre last month.  

The opening of the Centre will further strengthen and position Oman as a growing business hub for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).

Khalid Al Zidjali, Head of Oman Convention Bureau, said, “The Ministry’s initiative in establishing the Oman Convention Bureau under its supervision is a milestone towards building a foundation and achieving our objectives in the MICE tourism sector. We will be working as a specialized team to enhance this sector and regulate the processes, and use various external channels to promote MICE internationally. The bureau also aims to maintain a healthy atmosphere that supports all institutions and organizations working in the sector to host events and promote the Sultanate,” said Khalid Al Zidjali, Head of Oman Convention Bureau. “The Bureau will also market tourism packages to the global corporates.”

MICE tourism sector in the Sultanate will witness a major shift over the next couple of years as many important projects such as the Oman Convention Center will be inaugurated. The Oman Convention Center will include theaters, conference rooms, four hotels with almost 1000 rooms, and major exhibition halls to cater to 1000s of participants at the same time. Another important upcoming project is the Muscat International Airport, which is undergoing renovation and expansion. The airport will increase its passenger capacity in three phases. First, it will increase its capacity to hold 12 million passengers, then 24 million passengers and finally move to a passenger capacity of 48 million. Oman Air, the international airline of Oman and the GCC’s first airline, will include the new generation of Boeing 737 airliners to its fleet and will fly to more routes and new destinations. There are also other infrastructure and tourism projects within the 9th five-year development plan 2016-2020 that the Oman Tourism Strategy will reinforce.

Oman’s allure as a destination continues to grow – The Sultanate was ranked 9th in terms of safety and security by the World Economic Forum in its latest biennial Travel and Tourism report. In total, Oman saw about 2.4 million tourists visit the country in 2015 and the ambitious new tourism strategy for Oman plans to grow international visitor numbers to 5.3 million by 2040.

The Ministry of Tourism remains fully committed to enhancing the MICE sector in Oman to help the Sultanate achieve its potential of becoming a first class destination for meetings, conferences and events and the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre is being viewed as a major pillar in developing this further.

The Centre is situated within a purpose built, fully integrated business precinct and has been designed to accommodate world congresses, exhibitions, regional meetings, gala events, performances and concerts. It is one of the most ambitious projects to boost growth of MICE tourism.