The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism, between the ministry of tourism, Government of India and the ministry of tourism, Government of the Sultanate of Oman.
The main objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding, amongst other things, are; to expand bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector; to exchange information and data related to tourism; to encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders including hotels and tour operators; to establish exchange programme for cooperation in Human Resource Development; to invest in the tourism and hospitality sectors; to exchange visits of tour operators / media /opinion makers for promotion of two way tourism; to exchange experiences in the areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management; to participate in travel fairs /exhibitions in each other’s country and; to promote safe, honourable and sustainable tourism.
India and Oman have enjoyed a strong historical and long economic and political relationship. The Sultanate of Oman is a strategic partner for India in the Gulf region and an important interlocutor in the bilateral, Arab Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and the Indian Ocean Rim Association contexts. The two countries are linked by geography, history and culture. Both countries also enjoy warm and cordial relations, which cn be ascribed to historical maritime trade linkages, intimacy of the Royal family with India and the semianal role of the Indian expatriate community in the building of Oman.
In recent years Oman has emerged as an important tourism source market for India in the West Asian region. During 2013, India received 62,252 visitors from Oman. Similarly India has emerged as one of the important source market for Oman in the field of tourism. Considering the mutual benefits, both India and Oman would like to create an institutional mechanism for enhancing cooperation in this sector. The signing of the MoU will further strengthen and further develop the established relationship between the ministry of tourism, Government of the Republic of India and the ministry of tourism, Government of Oman for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism on reciprocal basis.