Tourism & Hospitality | Thursday 4 February, 2016 7:43 am |

The Ministry of Tourism, Oman along with its partners Oman Air and Oman Sail held a workshop for the UAE travel trade to announce holiday packages for the qualifiers of the prestigious international sailing event – the ‘Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series’ to be held in Oman from 27-28 February this year.

The workshop was held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai with attendance of nearly 70 key members from the travel trade. It also served as a platform to showcase Oman as a premier sailing destination in the region and as a leading weekend getaway from the UAE for a variety of experiences – mountains, beaches deserts, caves and forts.

H.E. Maitha Al Mahrouqi, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Oman said: “The UAE represents one of our key markets in the GCC and we remain committed to our trade partners in the region to showcase Oman as a year-round destination for a host of events and activities – from sailing, diving, hiking to cultural trails and heritage walks for families, honeymooners and luxury vacationers. 

“The America’s Cup is a very prestigious international sporting event and we are proud to be one of the select number of sailing venues around the world that will have the honour of hosting a qualifying round this year. 

“With its rich maritime heritage, Oman is already a regular destination on the global sailing circuit and has frequently hosted international sailing events. We encourage UAE residents to visit Oman to witness this spectacular qualifying event in February, and especially look out for our packages designed for this market.”

Oman’s maritime heritage is an important part of the government’s overall strategy for tourism. Oman Sail, the country’s pioneering national initiative, was created to contribute to the socio-economic development of Oman through sailing, to rekindle the country’s maritime heritage and to raise awareness of the Sultanate of Oman as a high end tourism destination around the world. 

Since 2008, Oman Sail has been running sailing programmes for thousands of young Omani women and men, and has won multiple sailing competitions and earned two sailing world records for the country. In addition, Oman Sail has hosted multiple sailing championships in Oman attracting hundreds of the world’s best sailors to the country and making maritime sports a very important part of the overall master plan for tourism in the country.

The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series is a racing circuit featuring the best sailors in the world, competing on foiling, wing sailed catamarans. The qualifying stages of the competition began in 2015 and will continue in various locations around the world in 2016 culminating in the finals in Bermuda in 2017.