Baltazar Fernandes, General Manager, Loay International LLC  and his wife Mildred who have  been long time residents of Oman have just taken possession of their Villa at The Wave, Muscat. Oman Vistas spoke to Baltazar Fernandes.  Excerpts:

There are many Integrated  tourism projects now coming up in Oman, like The Wave, The Blue City, Jebel Sifah, Salalah Beach, Salam Yitti, Muscat Golf, etc. What is your view on such projects?

I hope all of them are viable. All I can say is that location is very important for any investor to purchase the house. We chose to invest in a villa at The Wave only because it was ideally located in the heart of Muscat

How do you think these projects will impact Oman?

First of all it will bring in foreign investment and because of the sheer magnitude of the projects, it will draw world’s attention to the tourism potential that the Sultanate of Oman offers.

Do you think these projects will take Oman tourism to greater heights? 

Yes I believe it will project a new and vibrant image of Oman and accord the opportunity to diversify the country’s economy by increasing the revenue from tourism.

What  according to you would  be type of opportunities available for new  Integrated tourism projects that can benefit Oman?

I think there are still several opportunities  for Oman to explore, like theme parks, water kingdom, sea sports, etc tied to large areas of development for an integrated tourism facility.

Oman’s location is ideally suited to address the re-export business and the Government should be looking at setting up Free Zones next to all the ports to address this niche and attract FDI. The speed at the already announced Free Zones should also be increased to grab the opportunities that have come up due to the port congestion in UAE.