OMAN: e-visa Portal Launched By Sultanate of Oman

The Sultanate of Oman has launched an e-visa process, which in its first phase in being made available for 67 tourist countries and up to 116 professions.

The project is aimed at speeding up the application and fee payment process through an online portal, and link it with relevant ministries, such as the Ministry of Manpower with regards to work-permits, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in relation to the validity of the commercial register and the Ministry of Civil Service in respect of government visas for foreign civil servants.

The new project currently has two visa types,tourist and residence visas, Hilal bin Ahmed al- Busaidi, director general of passports and residency said that work is underway for the GCC residents list.

Once the next phase has been implemented, it is expected that all nationalities will be allowed to apply online.

This new system will also allow hotels, travel agents, and tour operators apply for e-visas for their guests online, via the Royal Oman Police (ROP) website, with the fees remaining the same.

Oman's tourism sector saw three million tourists enter the country in 2016, with predictions that it will reach 4.7 million by 2020, reported the state's news agency.

Meanwhile,Indian Ocean Islands are fast becoming the new hotspot for Arab travellers, as bookings to the nearby tropics flood in, according to regional travel agents.

Figures from the Maldives Tourism Board say trips to the Islamic country by Arab tourists rose more than 22 percent between 2009 and 2010, despite the impact of the global financial crisis.

Holidays to the Seychelles by Middle East travellers have also surged, official data shows, with visits from GCC residents by the end of September this year beating those recorded for the whole of 2010.

Located on the East of Africa, the Indian Ocean Islands including Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives and Madagascar, offer a tropical climate all year round, and have long been popular among holiday-makers and honeymooners around the world.

“We’re talking about [growth of] 15 to 25 percent a year in holidays to the Indian Ocean Islands,” said Frederic Bardin, senior vice president at Emirates Holidays. “Good year, bad year, it doesn’t matter, people just want to go there.

I think there are a lot of Arabs who have just recently discovered the region.

The top destinations for Arabs are still in Europe, but the Seychelles is probably creeping into the top 10 now.

Basel Abu Alrub, managing director of Dubai-based travel agency U travel, said GCC residents are attracted to the region Islands for its close proximity to the Gulf, and ability to accommodate Islamic customs.

Proximity is a big factor, as the islands are only four hours away.

Islam is also spread in some of the islands, which appeals to the GCC traveller and makes them feel at home.

Many hotel properties offer Al Hilal food, and they also recognise that privacy is an issue.”

Earlier this month, Abu Dhabi’s flagship carrier Etihad Airways launched its first flights from the UAE to the Maldives and the Seychelles, in a bid to tap into the growing market.

Company executives said the destinations were “highly desirable” among Arab travellers, making flight connectivity to the region “fundamental” for Etihad’s growth.

In March, Dubai-based Emirates Airline announced a 100 percent increase in the frequency of flights between Dubai and the Seychelles, with as many as 14 flights per week expected by the end of the year.

As compared to January 2010, we are increasing the capacity between Dubai and the Seychelles by 350 percent, said Majid Al Mualla, senior vice president, Commercial Operations - West Asia and Indian Ocean.

The increase in frequency is the fruit of all our efforts and investment in promoting the Seychelles across our network. Our recent campaigns have stepped up demand for the route as well as opened up new feeder markets.

Travel agents expect that airlines will further boost the number of flights to the region in the coming years, increasing demand for new hotel properties.

The number of Arab visitors to the region will continue to increase in the range of 15-20 percent, Alrub said, boosting the need for mid-level properties in particular.

OMAN: Countless Charms Of Sharqiyah Sands

The four-hour drive towards the Eastern Region of Oman to the Sharqiyah Sands was worth the trouble every kilometre of the way. Once you go past Al Qabil town, little villages dot the route, but the main fascination are the colourful tents of the Bedouins that flap playfully in the wind.

I preferred not to lodge in a two-star hotel but in a desert camp so I could be close to the grandeur of the sands. I had trainers on my feet, shorts, sleeveless shirt, baseball cap, sunglasses, and a drink in my hand. That was all I needed to explore around in that late afternoon.

First, I had to make up my mind whether to walk to the nearest sand dune, venture deep in the desert or take a stroll to the Bedouins camp. I decided to go for the dunes because it happened to be the largest within a 300 metre radius.

What was really fascinating about this particular dune was that it was not only about 100 metres long, but it was in the shape of a pyramid. When I reached it, I stopped on its base and admired its colours, the way you would admire a house of your dreams knowing that you can never afford to own it. The sands on its sides were intricately twisting from top to bottom in different shades of gold. It was made of the fluffiest sand you could ever find anywhere else.

It was not a steep climb but I was breathless by the time I reached the top. I could not help but take a selfie with my mobile phone so I could send the picture in my snap chat to declare to my friends that I conquered a dune in the middle of the legendary Sharqiyah Sands.

The view from the top was sublime. I could see more dunes scattered around and I was wondering why each one was gleaming under the bright sun as if they were made of metal but not sands.

Out of curiosity than anything else, I bent over and took a scoop of sand and examined what was in my hand. I parted the granules with my index finger and realised that they were crystallised with deposits of different metals that naturally occurred over millions of years of the existence of the desert. I let the hot sand roll down from my palm to cause a careless small heap next to my feet.

It was then I heard a soft sound somewhere behind me. It was a whimper of an animal and when I turned around, I saw a red fox making a fuss over its litter of kittens, just fifty metres away from me. I was not sure whether the fox was aware of my presence but she was busy licking the furs of its babies while they were trying to snuggle closer to their mother. Seconds later, the flapping of the wings forced me to look in the sky.

A white and grey eagle was circling above me and I was pretty sure I was not the prey he was looking for.

The mother fox saw the eagle, too. She squirmed, hissed and stared at the circling bird. She then quickly picked each of her three kittens by her teeth and dropped them one by one in a hole under a rock.

With the danger out of the fox’s way, I cast my eyes a distance away to the kaleidoscope of colours made up by clusters of tents — homes of the Bedouins. I also watched camels feeding on thorny trees, women in black walking around doing their chores, boys in white dishdasha playing and girls in bright red and pink dresses running around.

I scanned my eyes to the south and there was nothing but the horizon. To the north was the tourist camp I was going to spend a night and the water vapour rising and falling in the east, telling me there was a water spring somewhere there.

It made sense because the Bedouins would not choose to camp anyway unless there was water nearby.

I must have stayed up there for half an hour before I decided to come down. I walked towards the Bedouins camp, behind two wide dunes. There was a surprise waiting for me there. I usually associate desert plants with cactus or trees with thorny branches but to my amazement, a fauna patch of bright flowers greeted me as I was coming round the bend. I wondered how an area of arid land could be the unsuspecting host of beautiful and vibrant forms of life.

A swarm of bees circling the flowers warned me not to get too close when I was trying to pick one of them. I kept a respectable distance from the Bedouins tents and my desert exploration to make sure I don’t invade their privacy.

An old gentleman, sitting under the shade of a craggy tree, waved his hand and I waved back.

A much younger Bedouin, was skinning a lamb which was hanging upside down from a branch of a tree.

I also saw a woman starting a fire from dried twigs under another tree. I deliberated my walk long enough to see her placing a pot on three stones from which the fire was blazing from. Then it occurred to me how basic their lives are. The kitchen, living room, the food preparation area were all under the shade of trees.

The night in the desert has a different proposition for city dwellers like me. It was cooler and the owls were loud.

The cry of the wolves was eerie and the bats were dominating the air. In the moonless night, the sky was decorated by the glitter of the stars like carelessly strewn diamond necklaces. Yet, it was peaceful, rejuvenating and I was completely enveloped by calmness, unknown to the crude noises and the pollution of the city.