Muscat – As part of its ongoing endeavours to empower national competencies and enhance their skills and experiences in the tourism sector, Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran Group) announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind academy at an event held in Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) on Monday.

The group launched ‘Leadership Development Academy’ that serves as a platform to enhance leadership skills of the local competencies and foster a motivating professional environment, to provide the tourism sector with qualified leaders who actively contribute to achieving this promising sector’s growth and development.

Omran also introduced SHIFT and LIFT programmes, which Dr Hashil Obaid al Mahrouqi, the group CEO, said, “is part of Omran’s various programmes and initiatives that aim to harness national competencies, equip them with the knowledge, insights, and strategies needed to drive the growth and sustainability of our nation’s tourism sector.”

“We affirm our commitment to investing in our human capital and their development in alignment with the national tourism strategy and our corporate objectives.”

The ‘SHIFT’ programme will provide training courses in different management and leadership roles within the sector. It received 40 participants from management levels at Omran Group and its subsidiaries, while the ‘LIFT’ programme got 20 candidates from hospitality assets, concentrating on developing leadership skills specifically for the hospitality industry.

To ensure high quality of the training programmes at the academy, Omran partnered with several experienced and renowned local and regional institutions involved in leadership development for the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Hilal Masoud al Jadidi, Chief of Human Capital Officer, said that the entire team was thrilled with the success of the initiatives falling under #IAmTourism strategy, which serve as an umbrella for all training and development initiatives.

“The ‘Leadership Development Academy’ stands as a prominent flagship initiative within the programme that primarily focuses on nurturing leadership capabilities in the tourism sector and bolstering competencies in the hospitality field.”

Jadidi emphasised that the ‘Leadership Development Academy’ will go beyond conventional training approaches by offering training programmes tailored for tourism professionals and leaders.

“We will actively collaborate with our partners to ensure the delivery of comprehensive training programmes and impactful professional development initiatives that align with the latest leadership practices and knowledge.”

The #IAmTourism strategy is built on four core pillars: ‘Inform’ and spread awareness, ‘Attract’ the national talents from various industries to the tourism sector, ‘Retain’ national competencies within the tourism sector and ‘Partner’ with different stakeholders to come-up with such valuable initiatives.

The ‘Leadership Development Academy’ falls under the ‘Retain’ pillar to develop and retain national talents in the tourism sector.