The Selling Travel Dialogue, in collaboration with Oman’s Ministry of Tourism was held at the Renaissance Manchester city centre hotel in Deansgate.

We had two presenters, Kel Patel from Oman Air and Rob Wilson on behalf of the Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Tourism.

The big news from Oman Air is that a new daily service will be introduced from Manchester in April 2017, to add to their two flights a day from London. The Manchester flight will will be an overnight on a 2 class (economy & business class) on a Dreamliner.

Oman Air is a boutique airline founded in 1993, they currently have 39 planes in operation, 20 on order and plan to increase the fleet size to 70 planes by 2020. Premium passengers can also take advantage of the airline’s complimentary Chauffeur Drive airport transfer service, for door to door transfers up to a radius of 50 miles / km depending upon destination.

The visual presentation from Rob highlighted the stunning landscapes to be found within the Sultanate of Oman, from windswept deserts, lush green wadis, dramatic forts, beautiful beaches, ornate buildings and terraced mountains. Combine this with world class hotels, a sense of adventure and friendly locals, and we were on our way to understanding all that Oman has to offer.

For clients transiting through Oman, there’s an Arabian adventure waiting in Muscat worthy of a 3 day stopover. For longer stays, there’s much to discover. The ancient city of Nizwa with palm plantations, souk and round fort is both picturesque and an interesting place to visit. The best place for frankincense can be found at Wadi Dawkah in Dhofar, this site is mentioned on Unesco’s world heritage list. Jabal Akdar is famous for growing roses to produce rose water, and Princess Diana’s viewpoint. For adventurers, MTB and rock climbing is very popular, as well as hiking. The Arabian leopard and oryx are draws for nature lovers, and 5 species of turtle can be found on the beaches. Salalah, a thousand km down the coast from Muscat, is popular with Germans & Italians as a holiday destination. A 4×4 car is required for driving up into the mountains, there are stop check points to make sure you have a sufficient vehicle and paperwork required to make the trek.

Muscat is popular for two centre holidays, combined with destinations such as Zanzibar, Goa and Kerala. Oman Air fly to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to name a few destinations that could be combined.

We also heard about some world class hotels situated in Oman, a stay at the The Chedi was one of the prizes which looked stunning, others mentioned included the mountain retreat of Alila Jabal Akhdar, Shangri-la Al Husn in Muscat, and Ritz Carlton Al Burstan Palace.

The ancient kingdom of Oman is definitely a land of contrasts. (Above images from Oman Tourism Board)

At the end of our presentation, two lucky delegates won holidays to Oman, which were drawn at random from our business cards given on arrival. I was happy to go home inspired that Oman is a place I definitely want to visit. Just in case I needed a reminder, we were given a guide of the 101 things to see & do in Oman, amongst other literature for our library of travel guides.