(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- As part of plans to create high quality geotourism experiences in Al Wusta governorate, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) is planning to establish a geological park in Al Huqf region, best known for its Rock Garden with unusual rock formation dotting the landscape.
To start with, the ministry has issued a tender for companies to bid for 'Design of Al Huqf Geoheritage Map'.
'As a first step towards promoting a geopark in the Al Huqf region, a state-of-the-art tourist map will highlight the diverse tourism and geoheritage attractions and tourism services in the area, enabling visitors to have an overview of the region and to discover its attractions,' the ministry stated.
The tender document sale started on Sunday and will end on December 16. The ministry stated that the key factors for the map to be a success is that it should inspire visitors to explore the area, provide safety and sustainability guidelines, make available to visitors a tourism and geoheritage support kit, provide accurate up-to-date information in Arabic and English, adhere to the guidelines of the sultanate's brand, and be inclusive of all tourism-related activities in Al Huqf and its geoheritage infrastructure. It should also have a general map of the sultanate showing the network of highways to reach the area.
The Al Huqf area is known to be a geologist's paradise with rocks to view from almost all of Oman's geological history. Tourists flock to the Rock Garden to see myriad rock formations jutting out of the ground stretching over several kilometres.
The ministry, as part of privatising the management of nature reserves and protected areas, signed a contract with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) earlier this year to develop the Al Huqf Geopark in Al Wusta.
According to Tanfeedh, three sites have been identified for privatisation of nature reserves which include Qurum Nature Reserve, Al Huqf Geopark and the Al Saleel National Park. Al Huqf is the first project to be handed over to a private investor under the scheme.
'With the intention to augment tourist infrastructure, explore the sultanate's tourism potential and attract tourists, this initiative aims to privatise the management of specific natural and protected sites in Oman,' Tanfeedh's Implementation Support and Follow-Up Unit (ISFU) stated.
'To achieve this objective, the government plans to entrust the management of nature reserves and protected sites to private investors in accordance with a specific regulatory framework. The local community living in and around the protected area will be integrated into the development plan.'
According to ISFU, Al Huqf Geopark, which includes Duqm Rock Garden and Al Wusta Wildlife Sanctuary, offers great diversity and lends itself to a wide range of activities suitable for tourism. 'Hence, the tourism potential of the Al Huqf Geopark can be leveraged through three focus areas including geological, cultural and environmental. As part of the Al Huqf Geopark plan, a map will be developed for tour operators. The map will include potential geological, educational, cultural, social and environmental activities tourists can engage in.'
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