Muscat: Oman is on its way to becoming a preferred wedding destination for a large number of Indian couples, thanks to the efforts by the Sultanate’s Ministry of Tourism in promoting Oman as a wedding destination in the “big, fat Indian wedding market.”
In line with this approach, the ministry supported Oman’s leading tour and travel operator Zahara Tours in hosting six leading wedding planners from India to showcase Oman’s attractions.
During their five day stay in Muscat from 6-10 October, the group inspected major properties, including Al Bustan Palace, Bait Al Zubair, Al Alam Palace, Grand Hayatt Muscat, Shangri-la, Chedi Muscat, the Royal Opera House, the Grand Mosque, Amouge Factory, Millennium Resort, Karjeen Restaurant, and The Cave Complex.
The ministry also arranged for business meetings with leading wedding event managers and allied service providers, including Los Clarita Oman, DMCs, Key Light Production and Krupa Khimjis.
Lubaina Sheerazi, head of the Indian representative office of Oman’s Ministry of Tourism, was also part of the delegation.
Zahara Tours took the wedding planners on local sightseeing trips, which enabled them to have first-hand knowledge of the Sultanate’s rich cultural and geographical diversity and uniqueness.
“Today, the Sultanate’s largest and most promising market for destination weddings is India. Realising this fact, the Ministry of Tourism’s India Representative office in Mumbai coordinated with some of the major wedding planners in India in a bid to raise awareness among people of India about the attractiveness of the Sultanate as a prime wedding destination. We worked with Zahara Tours to host them and also show various sites, including hotels, restaurants, and cultural centres, such as the Royal Opera House in Muscat,” said Aysha Raisi, Desk Officer for the Indian Market at the International Offices Department at the Ministry of Tourism.
“India is a large market waiting to be tapped by the tourism industry in Oman. Towards expediting this mutually beneficial partnership, the Ministry of Tourism has been organizing various promotional events, collaborating with major tour operators and hotel groups in Oman. We facilitated the wedding planners’ tour, as part of this strategy,” said Raisi.
Commenting on the wedding planners’ familiarization trip, Harsh Abrol, vice president of Zahara Tours, said: “As a responsible and leading Destination Management Company operating in Oman for over four decades, our goal has been to promote the Sultanate in diverse markets. India figures prominently, with respect to destination weddings. We hosted leading Indian wedding planners in Muscat, with the objective of allowing them to explore and see for themselves the amazingly huge potential this country holds as a premier wedding destination. This is the second time Zahara is hosting Indian wedding planners in Muscat. With hotel inspections, sightseeing trips and meetings with local vendors, such as florists and event managers, arranged as part of the program, we hope they will receive a broad perspective about Oman and its potential, which in turn will help popularise Oman as a wedding destination among Indians who look for a memorable wedding experience.”
“We are working on the final arrangements for a couple of big Indian weddings in Muscat, and a lot more are in the pipeline. We have been receiving a lot of enquiries from Indian wedding planners. For the time being, we are focusing on Muscat. It is a well-developed city boasting world-class hotels, restaurants, avenues for entertainment, stunning beaches and mountains. We also have an office in Salalah, and we are actively working on expanding our reach to other destinations in Oman, beyond Muscat,” he said.
Zahara Tours offers pre- and post-wedding tours to exotic locations, including Salalah and Jabel Akhdar, apart from Muscat.
With oil prices on a deep decline, Oman is looking at ways to diversify its income, and tourism is accorded highest priority in this diversification strategy. Wedding tourism, MICE tourism and film tourism are all part of the promotional strategy adopted by the ministry of tourism to promote Oman abroad.
According to HarshAbrol, with the Indian economy on a high growth trajectory, people’s aspirations have reached higher, which will surely lead to an increasing number of Indians seeking destination weddings in unexplored lands.
The wedding planners hosted by Zahara Tours included Seven Steps, Platinum World Group, Motwane Entertainment and Weddings, Gurleen M Puri&Sudha Khanna, and Kickstart Entertainment.
Source: Times of Oman
