Oman Shows the Rest of the Gulf Region that Mass Tourism is Possible Without the Big-Money Glitter

The taxi driver I spoke to in Bahrain was right. The Omanis may be the most proactively helpful people I've met so far during my trip here in the Gulf region. But unlike what the taxi driver insinuated, the Omani "niceness" is not rooted in some sort of different culture or the national psyche compared to their fellow Muslim Arab brethren next door. Instead, it reflects how the Omani economy embraced diversification into tourism much earlier than any of the country's neighbors. The Omanis simply need to be nicer because they are used to making a living off tourism.

And I emphasize that Omani tourism influx is not like the type in Dubai or Doha, or that the Saudis are trying to follow suit. Here, tourism is not for the high-rollers in yachts and designer suits with a gigantic investment portfolio. Here, tourism is for the masses, the normal people with a slight bit of extra cash and a lot of adventurous spirit. That's why, for the first time during this trip, I've seen hordes of Caucasian backpackers wandering the markets, streets, museums, and restaurants. And that's why, again, for the first time during the trip, I can stay in an affordable hostel.

In some ways, Oman should not be a magnet for tourists in the Gulf region. The skyline of Muscat is devoid of skyscrapers that have almost become the byword for the region. The country certainly does have a unique history of diverse cultural influences due to its seafaring past. But every other country in the region can claim the same past glory and invest even more money than Oman does in museums and global public relations campaigns. Quite frankly, even without the PR oomph, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are much more well-known to outsiders anyway due to frequent media coverage.

It really is a shame that Oman flies under the radar of many potential tourists. Despite having the lowest GDP per capita among the Gulf countries (admittedly, very rich bunch) due to a (relative) lack of hydrocarbons, Oman has some of the most well-maintained infrastructure in the region: its expressways are not only smooth (unlike Kuwait's), but also devoid of any trash (unlike Riyadh's). It is full of beautifully manicured parks and greenery, often accessible without a car (unlike the case for basically any car- and highway-filled city in the region if they even have parks to begin with given the dry climate).

Word of mouth, however, is clearly slowly bringing tourists into the country. Stories of meeting fellow travelers in the souqs, the hostels, and the streets will do more to endear than news items of grandeur. People may be curious to see the moneyed elites at play for a day or two, but it really is the camaraderie among the "normal" people, local and foreign, that will ensure that a destination becomes a sustained destination when investments into high-profile projects taper off and global attention shift elsewhere. The evergreen draw of Thailand among backpackers, despite political and economic issues, is a case in point.

So perhaps as the likes of Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Qatar look to use mass tourism as one way to reduce reliance on petrodollars, they do not necessarily need to look to revamp a whole society and culture, using an ever-expanding portfolio of world-class events and skyscrapers to draw people in. They can look to Oman, without any of those, as a role model. Rather than having the state dictate what tourism should look like, let it be organic. The spontaneous discussions of common areas of hostels are where emerging destinations become popular, not the conference room where tourism board bigwigs strategize.

Moreover, Oman shows us that Muslim and Arab modernity can be authentically local, without pandering to the standard Western look. Narrow streets of traditional villages need not give way to boulevards full of cars. Instead, like Oman did, those narrow streets can simply be cleaned up, the old buildings spruced up and put regulations in place to manage the flow of people and traffic, without getting rid of the shops and the local residents that were often there for centuries. The result is a living traditional culture that is both self-confident and accessible to those without local knowledge.

And of course, let's not forget the "niceness." No amount of money can manufacture a genuine culture of welcoming outsiders. If anything, those skyscrapers and public events only serve to make locals feel both culturally detached from the rapid makeover and condescending, as they see tourists are "poor people" showing up to use the splashy infrastructure they can access anytime. Rather, give the locals more leeway to interact with tourists as true equals, guiding them to like the centuries-old cultural traditions for what they are, rather than what they aspire to be instead. Oman has succeeded, can others in the Gulf also?