Oman's ministry of tourism signs agreement to train tourist guides in Dhofar

Muscat: Ministry of Tourism has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Muriya Tourism Development Company and the Goethe-Institut (German Language Centre).
The MoU was signed by Maitha Al Mahrooqi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism; Ahmed Daboos, Muriya Tourism Development’s chief executive officer (CEO); and Sabine Brachmann Bosse, head of the Goethe-Institut.
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It was agreed upon in the MoU that 15 tourist guides from Dhofar will train in the German language through a specialised programme. The training programme will take place in the Salalah Beach Resort from May 1 to 31 and will be conducted by experts from the Goethe-Institut.
The initiative aims to accredit tourist guides in the Sultanate by providing them with the necessary skills to perform their roles as the Sultanate’s ambassadors. Tourist guides play an influential role in delivering an authentic image about the Sultanate for the tourists. Tourism guidance is an essential aspect of the services provided to the tourists and helps develop and promote the sector.
Maitha Al Mahrooqi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Tourism, praised the initiative saying, “We value the participation of leading corporations, such as Muriya Tourism Development in training and motivating tourist guides to learn German. We hope that this initiative sets an example for the private sector and other local institutions to participate in the development of human resources in different sectors in the Sultanate.”
“The initiative also complements the objectives of the Oman Tourism Strategy 2040 that aims to strengthen the partnership between the private and public sector. This partnership is important to support tourism guidance in order to enhance the quality of services provided to the tourists, meet the needs of the Oman tourism market and increases the number of tourists visiting
the Sultanate.
“Acquiring different languages is important to those working in the tourism industry and German was selected to be taught to the trainees due to the fact that Germans account for the second highest number of tourists coming to the Sultanate,” she said.
Muriya CEO Dabbous said, “Our collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism is part of our commitment at Muriya to empower local communities and provide Omani talent with the skills and knowledge they need to maximise their potential and that of the tourism sector.”