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Ministry offers three Musandam castles for investment

20 Dec 2021 Ministry offers three Musandam castles for investment By MOHAMMED TAHA

Muscat – The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) is offering three castles for investment in Musandam governorate.

Forts and castles in the sultanate attract a large number of tourists because of their unique place in the history of the region.

An MHT official said, “As part of its efforts to support the national economy and benefit from the presence of these historical structures in the country, the ministry has floated a tender for investment in three castles.”

The three castles open for investment are Bukha castle in the wilayat of Bukha, and Kumzarah castle and Khasab castle in the wilayat of Khasab.

The ministry launched the tender with the aim of allowing the local community to invest in these tourist sites and called on those interested to submit an action plan for the development of the three castles.

The ministry official informed that the deadline for submission of bids is January 13, 2022.

The ministry is exerting great efforts to restore archaeological and historical monuments such as castles, forts and old houses spread across all governorates.

Elaborating on MHT’s efforts to develop forts, he said, the ministry signed an agreement this month with a private company to operate Muttrah Fort and the Grand House in the wilayat of Muttrah.

“In November, the ministry announced that it is planning to offer Rustaq Fort in South Batinah to investors after its ongoing restoration work is completed. The ministry has also begun restoration work of Ras al Hadd Fort in the wilayat of Sur in South Sharqiyah governorate in October. The work is scheduled for completion at the end of 2021.”

There were 366,360 visitors to castles and forts in Oman in 2018. In 2020, 133,464 people visited castles and forts compared to 426,525 in 2019, a decrease of 68.6 per cent. The ministry is currently working to establish numerous projects to attract tourists to achieve the strategic goals of Oman Vision 2040.

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