PROJECT REPORT

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN OMAN :

CASE STUDY OF MIRBAT SETTLEMENT

SUBMITTED BY

RICKY CHERIAN

Enrolment no. - 181556227

SUBMITTED TO

IGNOU
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INTRODUCTION

Tourism in the Sultanate of Oman is at its initial formation stage, making it a

great opportunity for researchers, planners, and decision makers to propose

tourism plans that would best fit with country’s nature and culture.

This project paper explores the potential of converting existing settlements in

Oman to touristic destination and as a case study an old settlement in the

southern region of Oman called “Mirbat Settlement” was chosen.

Mirbat Settlement is one of the thousands of settlement in Oman, which started

disappearing after the mass modernization that started in 1970.

The project will focus on the three pillars of sustainable tourism: the first is

developing the local economy of the region and involving the society both in

heritage preservation and cultural tourism development in Oman.

The second is minimum impact on the surrounding environment and finally

providing unique quality experience for the visitors.

Importance of Heritage Tourism

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One definition that encapsulates the term “Heritage Tourism” properly is “is

travel that is motivated by a desire to experience the authentic natural, historic

and cultural resources of a community or region”.

Heritage tourism is the desire to visit and experience a site that is unique to a

community or region and cannot be found elsewhere. This can include

buildings, folk stories, landscape, art and music, they are all considered

expressions of heritage.

In recent years, tourism has witnessed drastic development and has become

world’s largest industry.

It was estimated that travel and tourism would generate around $5.5 billion of

economic activity in 2004.

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Since tourism marketplace has become increasingly saturated, there has been a

trend towards increasing specialization among tourists, hence heritage tourism

is becoming fastest growing sector.

Many countries have taken this opportunity to boost their local culture and

enhance tourism activities.

There are some authors who consider heritage as the past, however recent

literature has provided a fresh perspective on the modern-day use of elements of

the past, making heritage element of present and future.

Heritage preservation is not merely the preservation of a structure or building, it

is also preservation of culture, which is why it should consider the links

between the past, present and future.

The benefits and values of Heritage can be categorized into emotional, cultural

and functional.

Emotional values include wonder, identity, continuity and spiritual, whereas

cultural values include documentary, historic, archaeological, age, scarcity,

aesthetic, symbolic, architectural, townscapes, landscapes, ecological and

scientific. Functional values include the economic, social and political

importance of heritage. Because of these benefits, Heritage tourism has become

one of the fastest growing sector in the tourism industry. It can be a source of
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income and education not only for the local community but also the global

community, in addition to its capability to influence policy.

The Sultanate of Oman has a rich history and the cultural sites are evidence of

this history, these sites have been not yet been properly utilised.

Opening these sites to the world and sharing their stories would connect Oman

with the world and become a link to the remote past. Cultural sites in Oman can

be categorised as personal heritage, they reflect a sense of time when people

were more authentic and had simpler pleasures, reflecting the values longed for

in today’s complex society.

For this project, Mirbat settlement was chosen for analysing tourism potential in

Oman, it is studied in terms of its authenticity and possibility of converting it to

a touristic destination, which can serve as case study for other traditional
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settlement in Oman in the future and would also set a new possible direction for

Oman’s tourism sector, which is “heritage tourism”.

Settlement of Mirbat

The settlement is located at an old Mirbat port, which used to be an active port

in the old days and since the settlement is located at the coast line, it has an

amazing view to the open sea from one side and view of the mountains from the

other side.

The site was very quiet and remote from the city area, giving it a natural touch

and had paved road leading to it and was around 1hour away from the airport.

Despite the historic significance of the site, it was abandoned and mostly ruined

because of neglect.

Most houses still maintained their architectural character, because if which the

identity of the area was recognisable.

Some of the houses were inhabited by the locals, indicating that there are some

houses in liveable conditions with proper supply of water and electricity.

The settlement fabric can still be easily recognized as well as the major

buildings.

A new development took place just near the settlement, with residential and

commercial buildings. In addition to that there were several significant

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buildings that might have been developed along with the settlement, such as:

Old Mirbat fort, which seemed in a relatively good condition as it was

renovated recently.

Also the old souq (market area), which was almost in ruined conditions, but its

structure was still standing. In addition to that the settlement still has an active

local restaurant on the sea shore that provides an excellent view of the

settlement.

Overall the settlement seemed to have a well sorted fabric that can easily be

adopted for future development.

The area looked authentic and untouched, with the real feel of the old Mirbat

town, one can almost forget which year it is just by walking around in the alleys

of the town.
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There is a single road leading to it and you would enter the settlement through a

grand welcoming gateway, which seemed relatively new. As soon as you get

inside the settlement, there is an open welcoming area, where events used to

take place, according to the locals. Most of the structures in the settlement are

residential units with all shapes and sizes. They all have a very memorizing

architectural character reflecting the authenticity of Mirbat town.

Most of these units are more than 80 years old, some of them were renovated,

whereas others were left as they are. Each of the houses in the area are unique

and at the same time fit well with the urban fabric.
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The houses are scattered, creating interesting clusters. These clusters create

interesting walkable spaces. In addition to the residential units there also are

some commercial unit in the settlement.

One is the restaurant at the sea front, which is still active and attracts many

visitors. The other is the traditional market (souq), which seemed abandoned

from long time ago.

Both the commercial units have proper locations in the settlement, with

spectacular views to the sea. They are conveniently located at the end of the trip

of the settlement.

Mirbat settlement was analysed in four main aspects: cultural, physical, product

and experiential values in order to assess its potential to become a cultural and

heritage attraction in the future.

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CULTURAL VALUES

The settlement reflects a unique cultural tradition of Omani man in the past, it

also holds a regional significance as it used to be an active port.

The settlement has the capability to create emotional connection with the visitor

because of its cultural aspect and can be considered an asset ‘worth conserving’

as it represents heritage of Southern Oman community (Dhofari community).

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In the future if the settlement was opened for visitors, it can withstand visitation

without damaging its cultural values, as it has large open gathering areas.

Infact opening the settlement for visitors may even help in better preserving it,

as it is currently getting neglected.

However, if the local residents and government bodies realize the cultural value

of the settlement, they would start taking better care of it.

HERITAGE – HISTORIC VALUE OF MIRBAT

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Heritage is what makes a certain community or region unique and it can include

structure, art, folk stories and many more forms of cultural representation.

Although a region may have a number of similar resources, it is the individual

stories linked to each site what makes a place different and unique.

Heritage provides us with a sense of place, a connectedness to that place, to

land, traditions, customs and family.

Authenticity of heritage is a matter of concern for researchers, practitioners and

management involved in heritage tourism industry.

Authenticity of heritage can be addressed under three dimensions and two

contextualizing aspects, the three dimensions are: the objective (real), the

constructed (sociopolitical) and the personal (phenomenological).

And the two aspects that contextualize authenticity are: space and time.

In the case of Mirbat settlement, objective dimension of the authenticity are the

traditional buildings that reflect the local vernacular architecture of the area.

The constructed dimension can be achieved through activating the old market

place and by hosting traditional performance arts of Dhofar (South of Oman) in

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the open areas of the settlement. Whereas personal dimension is realized

through providing the visitors with living experience in the settlement and

interacting with locals.

As part of the sustainable tourism in the Sultanate of Oman, I also provide a

case study of Mirbat Settlement with the Mirbat beach project as the focus.

The project was named Oman's latest Integrated Tourism Complex where the

Dhofar Tourism Company is planning a mixed-use residential, tourism and

leisure scheme.

Dhofar Tourism Company’s (DTC) Mirbat Beach Project, is a mixed-use

residential, tourism and leisure development planned on Dhofar’s Mirbat coast.

The project was granted the coveted status of an ‘Integrated Tourism Complex’

(ITC) — a designation that, among other things, licenses the developer to offer

freehold residential units for sale to foreign investors.

Mirbat Beach Project, currently under detailed design, is the latest addition to a

string of ITCs in various stages of development and completion at key locations

around the Sultanate of Oman.

Notable schemes that operate as ITCs include Al Mouj, Jebel Sifah and Muscat

Hills in Muscat Governorate and Salalah Beach Resort in Dhofar Governorate.

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Plans drawn up by Dhofar Tourism Company, a publicly traded company listed

on the Muscat Stock Exchange, envisages a lavish development that will be

rolled out in five phases.

The waterfront project is proposed to include a mix of villas, apartments, golf

course, marina with a capacity to accommodate up to 75 boats, malls, five-star

hotel offering 300 rooms and 534 furnished apartments, and an amusement zone

designed for aquatic games and aerobatics.

As many as 1,500 residential units are envisioned when the facility is fully built

out.
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The project will make an important contribution to Dhofar’s tourism industry,

according to the company’s chairman, Ahmed bin Yousef bin Alawi al Ibrahim.

“Dhofar Tourism Company has obtained the licence as an Integrated Tourism

Complex from the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), which will have a major impact

and value in attracting local and international investors,” he said.

“In the context of our plans to submit the detailed drawings of the Mirbat Beach

Project to the Ministry of Tourism, the company has appointed a specialised

engineering bureau,” he added in the Directors Report of the company’s

performance for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Dhofar Tourism’s flagship investment in the governorate is the Salalah Marriott

Resort, an integrated resort at Hino in the Wilayat of Mirbat featuring a five-star

hotel, chalets, spa and dive centre, among other facilities.

Revenues were up 27 per cent versus the previous year — the result of

agreements signed with tour operators in tourism source markets in Europe and

the wider Marriott chain, according to the Chairman. Further, to help enhance

the overall appeal of the resort to tourists, the company is also weighing

investments in a 500-metre-long beach boardwalk, along with a small

amphitheatre and mini soccer patch, and children’s games room.

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Ancient breeding, trading centre for Arabian horses

The Wilayat of Mirbat, which is about 74 kilometres from the Wilayat of

Salalah, is one of the important historic cities in the Governorate of Dhofar,

located on the plain of Jabal Samhan overlooking the Arabian Sea coast.

It was named Mirbat after the horse stall. It was famous in the ninth century AD

for breeding horses and exporting them to many Arab and Islamic ports and

cities, in addition to the trade of frankincense and various craft products.

The Wilayat of Mirbat has many natural tourist sites, historical monuments and

buildings of ancient architecture, most notably Mirbat Castle, which is one of

the most important historical and archaeological sites.

It overlooks the coast of the ancient port of Mirbat and dates back to the ninth

century AD.

The Ministry of Tourism reopened Mirbat Castle after restoration and

maintenance work for tourists wishing to see the cultural and historical

monuments that the Sultanate is proud of.

The House of Sidov is one of the most important archaeological and historical

landmarks of the unique architectural structure that embodies the traditional

Arab architecture and dates back to about 200 years.

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It was built of stone, clay and wood. The house is also known as “Nizwa”. The

Ministry of Heritage and Culture is currently implementing a project to convert

the house into a cultural centre.

The old market of Mirbat, located near the castle, is one of the oldest historical

markets for the sale of goods imported from India, East Africa, Basra and Aden,

such as dates, leather, fabrics and various local products that were arriving

through the port of Mirbat, in addition to the Omani frankincense, which was

the main commodity in this market. Mirbat is also famous for the beautiful

beaches and bays, which are considered to be the most important tourist

attractions because of its beauty and rare marine resources.

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There is an active tourist movement throughout the year, especially during

weekends to enjoy fishing and seeing the coral reefs. In Mirbat, there are many

rare marine fisheries, the most famous of which are Abalone and Lobster, which

are considered one of the richest marine fisheries.

Abalone can be found in the beaches between Mirbat and the Niyabat of

Sharbathat in the Wilayat of Shaleem and Al Halaniyat Islands. The port of

Mirbat is one of the sites frequented by tourists and visitors. The Ministry of

Agriculture and Fisheries has set a plan to develop and expand the port and the

establishment of facilities for fishermen and visitors.

Jabal Samhan ‘Samhan Mountain’ is a tourist destination as it is one of the most

important mountain ranges in the Governorate of Dhofar with a maximum

height of 2,100 metres.

There are various types of plants with some Acacia tortilis and frankincense

trees.

Samhan is known for having a number of wild animals. Hiyour Cave is located

at the top of Jabal Samhan. It is considered as one of the most important tourist

places because of its mountainous location overlooking the Wilayat of Mirbat.

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The Ministry of Tourism plans to develop the cave by providing places to sit

inside the cave, in addition to walkways. The second stage of the development

includes the construction of additional walkways and umbrellas around the site,

the expansion of parking spaces and lighting, as well as the establishment of a

camping area and platforms with a telescope for wildlife viewing in Wadi

Samhan.

Tawi Ateer Sinkhole, known as ‘Birds Well’, is a natural tourist attraction in

Mirbat. It is about 112 metres deep. It is one of the largest sinkholes in the

world. It is located within walking distance of the north of the administrative

centre.
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Teeq Cave is also located in the same area. It is 170,000 square metres in size

and is the second largest cave in the world. The cave is about 14 kilometres

from the Niyabat of Tawi Ateer.

There is a paved road to the surrounding area as well as parking lots. The

Gravity Area in the Niyabat of Tawi Ateer is one of the tourist sites that attracts

visitors due to a strange and rare phenomenon, where cars go up instead of

down.

The area is located at the beginning of ‘Hshir Aqaba’ on the off-road from the

main road leading to the Wilayat of Mirbat.

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CAVE HIYOUR IN MIRBAT AS A TOURISM SITE

The plan to develop Cave Hiyour as a proper tourist spot has started taking
shape with the project’s foundation ceremony held at the site in 2020.
The project includes a mountain-like walkway, observation platforms, and a
restaurant serving international meals, other restaurants on the lines of Al Magbi
restaurants in Itin, a camping centre, adventure tourism sites, frankincense trees
and many other basic service facilities. Special care has been taken to protect
the environment while designing the project.
Cave Hiyour is located at Jabal Samhan in Tawi Atir in the Wilayat of Mirbat.
The event to lay the foundation stone was held under the auspices of Abdullah
bin Aqeel al Ibrahim, Acting Deputy Governor of Dhofar.

The project is being monitored by the Ministry of Tourism with financial

support from Salalah Methanol Company (SMC), which has offered RO
192,000 for overall development of the site.

The Cave Hiyour is one of the distinctive caves in Jabal Samhan. It is located at
the highest peak of the mountain, which offers a wonderful and unique view
through which one can see Mirbat, the mountainous areas and surrounding
valleys.
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Jabal Samhan is one of the highest mountains in the Arabian Peninsula, which is
located in the eastern part of the Dhofar mountain range with a height of 2,100
metres.
The mountain also contains many caves and natural holes. Marhoon bin Said al
Ameri, Director-General of Tourism in Dhofar Governorate, called the
development of Cave Hiyour a major step in line with the ministry’s focus on
developing tourism sites in the wake of Salalah getting international attention of
tourists.
He stressed on the Ministry of Tourism’s focus finding integrated tourism
options between various governorates of the Sultanate and exploiting the
strengths of the tourism sector through investment in country’s natural and
historical components, and targeting quality projects.
These projects, according to him, are bound to have added economic value and
benefit the local community.
“Fortunately, tourism is emerging as one of the most vital sectors that contribute
effectively to diversification of income sources. This project comes as an
addition to the projects of the Ministry of Tourism in different parts of the
country,” he said.
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Awadh bin Hassan al Shanfari, CEO of Salalah Methanol, said project was in
line with the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) with
opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which ultimately
contributes to the community and the country.
“Our engagements with such projects have proved beneficial for programmes
and projects that are beneficial for the Omanis,” owner of Salalah Methanol
Company said.

Mirbat Festival

Sayyid Mohammed bin Sultan bin Hamoud al Busaidy, Minister of State and
Governor of Dhofar, inaugurated the 21-day long Mirbat Festival in Mirbat fort
premises in November 2017.
The festival is part of the National Day celebration and an attempt to attract
more tourists to Dhofar.
The festival includes many events to celebrate the heritage and culture of the
governorate.
It also includes various competitions, sports and consumer exhibitions. The
opening of the festival was attended by Dr Rasheed bin al Safi al Huraibi,
Chairman of the Board Tenders, officials, citizens and residents.
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Society’s acceptance to tourism industry in Mirbat

Communities and societies in addition to being the rightful owner of this
heritage as in most cases, they often have sentimental attachments to a place and
these attachments depends on a place’s social, historic
and/or aesthetic value.
A place’s significance is sometimes related with its local history, giving a
community their sense of identity from past events of great importance.
During our visit we interviewed tourists and locals asking them about the
settlement and their impression about the area.
The locals were emotionally attached to area and yet welcomed the visitors and
were proud to share their history with them.
When discussing the idea of opening the settlement for tourist, the locals
embraced the idea and welcomed it, they said that they would love the share the
settlement history with tourists.
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Interrelation of Heritage tourism elements in case of Mirbat

The interrelation between elements of heritage tourism have been intensively

researched about in the past decade and methods of developing these relations
have also been proposed to make the heritage model more effective.
Interrelation between heritage tourism elements of Mirbat settlement will be
analysed in this section in order to understand how to satisfy each of these
elements.

Visitor-Heritage Relationship

Over the years researches about visitor motivations were based on Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Need (1954), which states that the basic needs, such as
physiological, safety and security must be met before the next levels in the
needs hierarchy can be met, such as sense of belonging and self-actualisation.
However, research in the theory of visitor motivations evolved into combination
of push/pull factors.
Push factors are defined as internal motivations that peruse the person to travel,
such as self-expression, self-development and relaxation.
Whereas Pull factors are external and are related to the destination attributes.
In case of Mirbat settlement, push factors can be identified as personal desire to
visit historic or cultural sites, exploring new cultures and knowledge
enrichment. Whereas the pull factors can be uniqueness of the site, activities
provided and cultural richness of the settlement.

Society-Heritage Relationship

Ming Ming Su (2011) emphasized on the interactive relationship between a

heritage site and the local community in tourism development.
Heritage site being the basis of any heritage tourism and are the main source of
attracting tourists, tourism development often enhance the local community
infrastructure, provides employment, opportunities and improves local income
level.
Moreover, local community can be become a major part of the heritage site and
enrich the touristic experience for visitors by providing them with needed
services, activities and products.
Thus, if managed properly, both parties: heritage and community can
benefit from the flow of income forming a mutual supportive relationship.
Y L Huang (2006) identified six impact factors for a community to participate
in heritage tourism:
community costs, community benefits, social and cultural impacts, impacts on
individuals, living standards and economic impacts.
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By involving the community in Mirbat settlement, it is expected that the tourists

would be attracted to stay longer and spend more as the experience becomes
more enriching.
Moreover, the Omani government should set up an effective mechanism for
community participation, so the local community can benefit from
the tourism development and local economy, hence improving their living
standards.
Mirbat settlement is considered cultural heritage of the local community in the
area.
It builds their local identities, maintains community sustainability and provides
them with ‘sense of space’, hence it is very crucial that stay attached to the
settlement and be involved in all the future developments in the area.

Visitor-Society Relationship

Edson (2004) states that “heritage enfranchises the emotionally and culturally
disenfranchised”.
He also adds that heritage resources process astonishing emotional and
intellectual appeal and the capability of evoking the feeling of prestige and
sense of pride.
The personal interaction between visitors and local community helps promote
the local culture.
This highlights the importance of sharing “place stories”, as it
helps in developing peaceful relations between individuals and communities.

Promoting sustainable tourism in Mirbat

It is proposed to develop the settlement in three phases in order to find the

funding for such large development.
During the first phase, the houses at the coastal area would be renovated, in
addition to the restaurant, market area (souq) and the old houses at the entrance
area.
In the second phase the houses near the roads would be renovated as they are
the closer to the services.
In the third phase, more houses in the internal part of the settlement would be
renovated.
The rest of the settlement would be restored depending on the available funding
and the revenue from the developed parts of the settlement.
In order to ensure that the tourism in Mirbat settlement evolves to become
sustainable tourism, it is important to satisfy the three pillars of sustainable
tourism, which are: developing local economy, minimum
impact on the site and providing quality experience to the visitor.
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Visitor-Heritage Relationship

Over the years researches about visitor motivations were based on Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Need (1954), which states that the basic needs, such as
physiological, safety and security must be met before the next
levels in the needs hierarchy can be met, such as sense of belonging and self-
actualisation.
However, research in the theory of visitor motivations evolved into combination
of push/pull factors.
Push factors are defined as internal motivations that peruse the person to travel,
such as self-expression, self-development and relaxation. Whereas Pull factors
are external and are related to the destination attributes.
In case of Mirbat settlement, push factors can be identified as personal desire to
visit historic or cultural sites, exploring new cultures and knowledge
enrichment.
Whereas the pull factors can be uniqueness of the site, activities provided and
cultural richness of the settlement.

Society-Heritage Relationship

Ming Ming Su (2011) emphasised on the interactive relationship between a

heritage site and the local community in tourism development.
Heritage site being the basis of any heritage tourism and are the main
source of attracting tourists, tourism development often enhance the local
community infrastructure, provides employment, opportunities and improves
local income level.
Moreover, local community can be become a major part of the heritage site and
enrich the touristic experience for visitors by providing them with needed
services, activities and products.
Thus, if managed properly, both parties: heritage and community can
benefit from the flow of income forming a mutual supportive relationship.
Y L Huang (2006) identified six impact factors for a community to participate
in heritage tourism:
community costs, community benefits, social and cultural impacts, impacts on
individuals, living standards and economic impacts.
By involving the community in Mirbat settlement, it is expected that the tourists
would be attracted to stay longer and spend more as the experience becomes
more enriching.
Moreover, the Omani government should set up an effective mechanism for
community participation, so the local community can benefit from
the tourism development and local economy, hence improving their living
standards.
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Mirbat settlement is considered cultural heritage of the local community in the

area.
It builds their local identities, maintains community sustainability and provides
them with ‘sense of space’, hence it is very crucial that stay attached to the
settlement and be involved in all the future developments in the area.

Visitor-Society Relationship

Edson (2004) states that “heritage enfranchises the emotionally and culturally
disenfranchised”.
He also adds that heritage resources process astonishing emotional and
intellectual appeal and the capability of evoking the feeling of prestige and
sense of pride.
The personal interaction between visitors and local community helps promote
the local culture.
This highlights the importance of sharing “place stories”, as it helps in
developing peaceful relations between individuals and communities.

CONCLUSION

In summary, Oman has a vast opportunity to develop its heritage tourism,

because of the huge number of cultural sites. By maintaining these sites

appropriately, so they would satisfy the basic needs of the tourists and at the

same time don’t compromise the sites’ authenticity, which attracted the tourists

in the first place. When converting these sites into tourist attractions, it should

be taken into consideration that enhance the visitor experience and consequently

ensure public support for heritage conservation. The goal of this project is to

offer high quality, comprehensive service which is distinctive, affordable and

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personalized. This project is committed to the natural, economic and historical

environment, with which it aims to strengthen the image of Omani tourism and

link it to sustainable development.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 https://www.omanobserver.om

 https://timesofoman.com/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirbat

 https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Mirbat/

 Tony Walsh (2017). "Oman". Essays on Tourism in Oman

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

FACTS 5

REASONS FOR PROMINENCE 10

ARCHITECTURE 16

POLLUTANT ACTIVITIES AFFECTING THE MOSQUE 23

CONCLUSION 26

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2