Close on the heels of success of India-Oman Webinar for Tourism Promotion organised on 8th February 2022, Embassy of India, Muscat organized a Round Table meet on India-Oman Tourism on 16 March 2022. at the Embassy. Around 40 prominent Omani and Indian tour operators participated in the Round Table.

2. A video showing facets of ‘Incredible India’ set the stage for in-depth discussions on strategies to promote inbound and outbound tourism. Shri Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary (Tourism), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India addressed the Roundtable by a video message. He exhorted the travel and tour operators to assist in making India a favored travel destination for Omani tourists and highlighted key policies of GoI in this regard.

3. Ambassador Amit Narang stressed the triple advantages of familiarity, proximity and connectivity that make India and Oman unique partners in travel and tourism. He said that easing out of Covid-19 travel restrictions and resumption of scheduled international flights to India from 27 March 2022 will help the travel market to slowly and steadily return to normalcy. He mentioned  the 500,000 free tourist visas scheme announced by Government of India since November 2021 and requested the participating tour operators to promote holistic packages to India, combining the already popular medical tourism with wellness, heritage and cultural packages to select destinations. Ambassador also noted that with over 26 million outbound travelers from India annually, Oman can benefit hugely by attracting Indian tourists with focused promotion and well curated packages.

4. During the event, participants shared their valuable ideas to promote India in Oman and Oman in India. Among the suggestions received includied conducting regular B2B meetings, roadshows, FAM trips, participation in travel marts, social media campaigns, advertisement, connecting with universities, youth etc to promote two way tourism.  Sectors like adventure, medical, business, leisure, education etc were the highlighted in the interactive session offering newer opportunities for further growth.

5. The Round Table gave an excellent opportunity to leading tour operators of both sides to connect with each other for potential business collaborations. Participants appreciated the back to back initiatives of the Embassy and were confident about the prospects of rejuvenating the travel and tourism sector in both India and Oman.