International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-88
Tourism has a wide range of direct, indirect, and dynamic effects and it can affect the livelihood, growth of
the national economy, create a conducive business climate for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and
will also improve the infrastructure or natural resource bases. The tourism sector opens opportunities for
employment and local products such as handicrafts.
76
Can Salalah be a round-the-year Tourism Destination?
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
eISSN-2708-8006, Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-
88
The vision of the Ministry of Tourism, Oman is to explore the cultural, heritage, historical places of value in
Oman to benefit the tourism industry. Salalah falls on that list. Salalah is the capital of the Dhofar governorate
and the third-largest city in Oman. It is dignified as the birthplace of the former Sultan Qaboos bin Said. It
attracts many tourists from different parts of Oman and the Gulf region especially during the Khareef Season
which falls between July 15 th and August 15 th .
Oman consists of very attractive tourist places and is very famous in the gulf region. Salalah is popular for
its natural flora and fauna as it is encompassed with places like Wadi Darbat, Attin plain, natural caves,
Maghasil natural beach, Khawr Rawri bird sanctuary, waterfalls, lakes, and Souq Al Haffa the market popular
for frankincense, perfumes, and other traditional products. Further to that, it has many historical sites like
the Albaleed site (– the one which was added to the world heritage list in the year 2000), Tomb of Prophet
Ayoub, Ayn Humran Castle. Though there were two major cyclones during 2018 and most of the parts of
Salalah was devastated, Dhofar governorate was restored by Government agencies with the help of the private
sector and the governorate received 826,000 tourists in 2018 with an average of 8000 visitors per day, Maitha
Al Mahrouqi, Under-Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism in Oman reported (Oman Observer, 2019).
The tourism & hospitality industry has contributed to Oman's economy around RO 1.293 billion in 2019,
with an increase of 4.9% compared to 2018 (Prabhu, 2020). Tourism contributes to the 2.5% GDP of Oman.
But this is low compared to revenue potentialities Oman has got and can generate through tourism. Thus,
Oman as a means of economic diversification from the oil economy, paying more attention to encourage
tourism mainly to explore the tourism potentialities especially now when there is a significant drop in oil
prices.
Statement of the Problem
The tourism industry acts as one of the catalysts in diversifying the fuel-based economy. Due to the
coronavirus pandemic since last year, the sector which is promising socio-economic development in rural
areas and assuring job opportunities for local Omanis needs to be analyzed with the expectations of the
tourists. The rapid growth of tourism in Oman and has a significant impact on the country’s economy because
it contributes to the economy in creating jobs and creating good opportunities for local businesses. It helps
airlines and the transport sector and attracts large investments in the country (Aulia & Almandhari, 2015).
The development of tourism in the country through culture and heritage may cause tourists to be more
comfortable (Al Balushi et al., 2014).
So it becomes important to find out how tourism in Salalah can be increased during the period other than the
Khareef season period of two months and why not Salalah be made attractive tourists place during all the
month of the year – around the year tourism destination. Keeping in mind this idea, the study was conducted
to know the experience and seek the opinion of the visitors to Salalah.
Research Questions
The study tries to answer the following questions:
1. What were the infrastructural facilities, service facilities, marketing facilities, and Government support
available in Salalah?
2. What were the opinion and the expectation of tourists visiting Salalah from the Al Batinah region?
Research Objectives
In line with the above research questions, the following research objectives were framed:
1. To analyze the infrastructural facilities, service facilities, marketing facilities, and Government support
available in Salalah.
2. To critically analyze the opinion and the expectation of tourists visiting Salalah from the Al Batinah
region
Keeping in mind the above research objectives, the review of literature was done.
Review of Literature
Infrastructure
Mustafa (2019) found that infrastructure has an impact on tourism on a short-term as well as long-term basis.
Boers and Cottrell (2007) reported that sustainable tourism infrastructure planning helps tourist areas to
experience an increase in the number of tourists and needs subsequent development of resources.
and Ivana (2016) suggested that tourism development requires extensive investment in the modernization of
© Al Jahwari & Khan
77
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-88
infrastructure, as an important factor of development. An increase in demand in relates to infrastructure and
the related facilities are the part of maturing phases of tourism development ( et al., 2018). Modern
infrastructure facilities accommodate the tourists so that new directions of tourism can be introduced at the
level of international standards (Olimovich et al., 2020). Modern management practices along with
destination image building only can bring improvement in the infrastructural facilities (Bunja, 2003). Al
Ghazali et al. (2021) clarified that the tourists will be willing to pay more at the destined stay if there are
green initiatives and innovative sustainability initiatives undertaken so that the guests expect their stay to be
a memorable one. COIVD-19 pandemic has devastated the whole tourism industry globally and Oman in
particular and the number of tourists inflow has reduced very much (Krishnamurthy & Krishnan, 2021).
Besides, the main cause for the decreasing trend in the number of visitors is the lack of good infrastructure
facilities and services by the tourists (Cságoly et al., 2017). Frequent congestion and traffic jams make feel
tourists avoid visiting tourist spots during seasonal periods (Antara & Sumarniasih, 2017). Conservation and
improvisation of services and infrastructure will help to main tourism interest in the coastal regions (Phillips
& Jones, 2006). Dewantara (2018) concluded that tourism stakeholders and Government should have put
basic infrastructural facilities like airports, etc. as main priorities looking at its implication for the tourism
industry.
Government support/Community Involvement
Stakeholders in tourism development include Governments, tourism agencies, tourism financiers, tourism
employees and consultants, tourism educational institutions, tourists and visitors, and the local populations
(Pololikashvili, 2005). The residents of the local community support tourism and involve themselves in
tourism activities as they strongly agreed that tourism increased employment opportunities, property values,
the image of the city, the appearance and infrastructure of the cities (Chandralal, 2010). Mustafa (2019)
recommended that the Government is the key player in improving the infrastructure facilities to increase
tourists’ arrival in Sri Lanka. Long-term sustainability can be possible only if all the stakeholders of the
tourism industry including the Government, Tourist operators, and local people come together (Bhap, 2017).
Social entrepreneurship including voluntary services, recreation, educational guidance, and other activities
like health improvement, etc., can only bring in a variety of potential services in the industry (Plotnikova,
2018). On the other hand, Price discrepancy, low range/poor quality services, insufficient workers curtail the
effective development of the tourism industry (Bednarska, 2017; Leonidova, 2017).
Services
Services take an influential role in the complete satisfaction of tourists (Neal et al., 2007). Tourists expect
modernized and diversified amenities, and services (Craik, 1997). Mirzaev (2018) assessed the tourist
recreation facilities available in the tourist spots so that the effective use of recreational objects in the market
of tourism services is enhanced. Shops, restaurants, public services, recreational facilities qualify a tourist
spot as a welcoming one and attract more tourists (Leiper, 1979). Al Badi and Khan (2020) claimed that there
are plenty of chances to excel with tourism entrepreneurship in Oman, through providing various modern
satisfactory services to tourists but governmental support is a must to do so. Tourism services need to be
enhanced strategically to cope up with the market trends and rise to the expectation of the tourists (Tsiotsou
& Goldsmith, 2012).
Marketing and Promotion
Tourism advertising makes an impact on the minds of the visitors as the chances of visiting a destination is
connected to information awareness of the place of visit and the top-of-mind awareness (Kim et al., 2005).
Tourism advertisements make more influence especially on the minds of young tourists (Fong et al., 2018).
Community support towards local development for successful place marketing along with promotion
strategies will increase the visitors to the developed tourism destination (Nel & Binns, 2002). The
construction of a brand image is a must for the modern tourism industry as it secures a place of competitive
advantage in the market (Latif et al., 2016). Different types of promotional tools like advertisement through
the internet, TV, newspapers and other media will help to expand the tourism industry and to build such a
brand image (Salehi & Farahbakhsh, 2014). As different types of holidays are considered, the marketing of
tourism also varies accordingly (Goodall & Ashworth, 2013). Understanding the opportunities and strategies
for a tourism destination is a must to develop a customer value-driven strategy to attract visitors (Kotler et
al., 2018).
Tourism
78
Can Salalah be a round-the-year Tourism Destination?
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
eISSN-2708-8006, Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-
88
Tourism as an industry determines not only the economic component but also the socio-cultural, educational,
and ideological components of development, and implements the multiplier effect in related industries
(Dafuleya et al., 2017; Reyes et al., 2017). Omani people are going out of the country looking for private
hospitals for having treatment and recuperation together as the eco-friendly environment has created a new
arena called medical tourism (Al-Balushi & Khan, 2017). Tourism is established on the guideline of
manageability, implying that tourism must be naturally and environmentally inviting, socially and socially
adequate, and economically feasible (Islam et al., 2019). According to Lu and Nepal (2009) sustainability is
a perplexing idea as the tourism industry requires heaps of resources, in this manner the local communities
and tourists are to be responsible for environment-fused sustainable development.
Research Methodology
A questionnaire was prepared for the research and the responses were obtained through the questionnaire
circulating the same among the public of the Al Batinah region of Oman. The samples were selected on a
random sampling basis. As the sample is around one million the random sample selection of 193 is sufficient
enough to justify the sample selection (Ruane, 2010). 225 samples were collected out of which only 201 were
fully completed ones. Only these 201 completed samples were taken for analysis purposes. Further, the study
was restricted to the selected variables such as Infrastructure, Services available, Marketing & promotion,
and Government support.
Findings
Table 1 Demographic Details of the Respondents
Characteristics
Frequency
%
Omani
175
87.1
Nationality
Other GCC national
17
8.5
African
3
1.5
Asian
6
3.0
Gender
Male
67
33.3
Female
134
66.7
< 25 years
88
43.8
Age
25- < 40 years
85
42.3
40-54 years
20
10.0
> 55 years
8
4.0
Secondary Or Below
18
7.5
High School
42
20.9
Diploma
40
19.9
Qualification
Advanced Diploma
37
18.4
Bachelor
64
31.8
Masters
11
5.5
Professional
7
3.5
Student
77
38.3
Employed
69
34.3
Employment Status
Unemployed
27
13.4
Retired
15
7.5
Own Business
13
6.5
< RO 500
89
44.3
Income level
RO 500 – RO 1000
72
35.8
RO 1000 – RO 1500
27
13.4
> RO 1500
13
6.5
Business
20
10.0
Reason for selecting Meeting friends/to be with family
28
13.9
Salalah as the Tourism Vacation
31
15.4
destination
Khareef Festival, Salalah
63
31.3
Studying
6
3.0
© Al Jahwari & Khan
79
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-88
Visiting Place
49
24.4
Others
4
2.0
Lack of services
58
28.9
Costly accommodation/transportation
57
28.4
Difficulties
faced Limited Transportation
26
12.9
during a visit to Salalah Lack of infrastructure
11
5.5
Lack of accommodation/hotel
30
14.9
Others
19
9.5
Social Media
56
27.9
Media
58
28.9
You came to know
about Salalah through
Friends and relatives
63
31.3
Conferences/exhibitions
18
9.0
Others
6
3.0
Car
91
45.3
Transportation used to Bus
25
12.4
go to Salalah
Motorbike
10
5.0
Air/flight
75
37.3
Only once
88
43.8
Number of visits to More than once
69
34.3
Salalah in a year
Visit often
30
14.9
Never
14
7.0
Jan. – Mar.
16
8.0
The period during
which you prefer to
Apr. – Jun.
24
11.9
visit Salalah
Jul. – Sep.
139
69.2
Pct. – Dec.
22
11.0
Natural sites
84
41.8
Religious sites
27
13.4
Places of cultural heritage
49
24.4
Kind of places you like Archeological places
12
6.0
to visit in Salalah
Festival arena
12
6.0
Exhibitions
6
3.0
To attend conferences
3
1.5
Others
8
4.0
Source: Questionnaire
Table 1 Infrastructure Facilities at Salalah
Statements
SA
A
N
D
SD
K-S
p-
Value
2
value
Accommodation was
45
71
36
32
17
comfortable enough
22.4%
35.3% 17.9%
15.9% 8.5%
.573
Various types of food courts
and restaurants were there in
50
69
45
29
8
34.3% 22.4%
14.4% 4.0%
.556
Salalah
24.9%
Many shopping malls and
supermarkets were there in
41
55
61
38
6
27.4% 30.3%
18.9% 3.0%
.610
Salalah
20.4 %
148.010 .000
Highways and roads in Salalah
were not big enough to avoid
68
58
45
24
6
28.9% 22.4%
11.9% 3.0%
.574
the traffic crowd
33.8%
The electric power supply
never broke down during our
51
65
46
29
10
32.3% 22.9%
14.4% 5.0%
.576
visit to Salalah
25.4%
80
Can Salalah be a round-the-year Tourism Destination?
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
eISSN-2708-8006, Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-
88
Never faced any water problem
36
73
38
43
11
.587
during our visit to Salalah
17.9%
36.3% 18.9%
21.4% 5.5%
Tourist spots in Salalah were
quite large enough to
56
45
55
32
13
accommodate the visiting
27.9%
22.4% 27.4%
15.9% 6.5%
.636
tourists
Cleanliness was not maintained
40
57
54
40
10
.633
throughout the year in Salalah
19.9%
28.4% 26.9%
19.9% 5.0%
Many masjids (mosques) were
55
51
67
19
9
.599
there in Salalah
27.4%
25.4% 33.3%
9.5%
4.5%
Petrol (fuel) stations were
56
55
54
30
6
.603
always crowded-long queues
27.9%
27.4% 26.9%
14.9% 3.0%
made us to wait
Bank ATMs were not enough
50
47
51
39
14
.654
in Salalah
24.9%
23.4% 25.4%
19.9% 7.0%
Null Hypothesis : There is no relationship between the infrastructure facilities and the choices of the
respondents.
From Table 2, it can be seen that the p-value is < .05. Therefore, it is evident that the null hypothesis gets
rejected i.e. there is a relationship between the choices of the respondents and the infrastructure facilities.
From the results obtained from the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, comparing the K-S values it can be seen that
‘Bank ATMs are not enough in Salalah’ (.654) ranked first, followed by ‘Tourist spots in Salalah was quite
large enough to accommodate the visiting tourists’ (.636) ranked second and ‘Cleanliness was not maintained
throughout the year in Salalah’ (.633) ranked third.
Table 3 Service Facilities at Salalah
Statements
SA
A
N
D
SD
K-S
p-
Value
2
value
Transportation facilities were
sufficient enough to visit
40
51
38
56
16
.594
different places at Salalah
19.9%
25.4% 18.9%
27.9% 8.0%
Plenty of sport and
35
62
44
12
.603
amusement facilities were
48
available in Salalah
23.9%
17.4% 30.8%
21.9% 6.0%
Emergency health facilities
35
57
58
41
10
were not enough at Salalah
17.4 %
28.4% 28.9%
20.4% 5.0%
.560
Security Services were
49
75
56
17
4
.465
satisfactory at Salalah
24.4%
37.3% 27.9%
8.5%
2.0%
24-hours civil defense
50
63
44
33
11
.529
services were available in
24.9%
31.3% 21.9%
16.4% 5.5%
Salalah
Telecommunication-phone
106.463 .000
connection and internet
49
52
48
39
13
facilities were not available
24.4%
25.9% 23.9%
19.4% 6.5%
.555
in all the places of Salalah
Tourist guides were available
32
51
50
54
14
.590
at all the tourist spots of
15.9%
25.4% 24.9%
26.9% 7.0%
Salalah
Road directions and road
maps were not available from
45
62
42
41
11
30.8% 20.9%
20.4% 5.5%
.532
tourism centers
22.4%
Laundry, Tailoring, Barber
like amenities were not
48
67
34
36
16
sufficient enough during the
23.9%
33.3% 16.9%
17.9% 8.0%
.540
festival
© Al Jahwari & Khan
81
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-88
Money exchangers/Banks
were not many in numbers
56
53
55
25
12
26.4% 27.4%
12.4% 6.0%
.531
and not enough
27.9%
Null Hypothesis : There is no relationship between the services facilities and the choices of the respondents.
From Table 3, it can be seen that the p-value is < .05. Therefore, it is evident that the null hypothesis gets
rejected i.e. there is a relationship between the choices of the respondents and the services facilities. From
the results obtained from the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, comparing the K-S values it can be seen that ‘Plenty
of sport and amusement facilities are available in Salalah’ (.603) ranked first, followed by ‘Transportation
facilities are sufficient enough to visit different places at Salalah’ (.594) ranked second and ‘Tourist guides
are available at all the tourist spots of Salalah’ (.590) ranked third.
Table 4 Marketing and Promotion
Statements
SA
A
N
D
SD
K-S
p-
Value
2
value
Seen advertisements about
Salalah on TV, Newspapers and
59
91
30
14
7
.415
magazines
29.4%
45.3% 14.9%
7.0%
3.5%
There were promotions and
tour packages available for
60
70
50
15
6
Salalah on the internet and
29.9%
34.8% 24.9%
7.5%
3.0%
.464
social media
In Salalah international
46
56
59
34
6
exhibitions were hosted
17.4 %
28.4% 28.9%
20.4% 5.0%
.537
Cruise trips were arranged to
39
51
70
32
9
Salalah via sea
19.4%
25.4% 34.8%
15.9% 4.5%
.558
Special events / exhibitions
were conducted during Eid
46
59
56
20
20
29.4% 27.9%
10.0% 10.0%
.533
holidays
22.9%
Accommodations for
discounted prices were
36
43
60
39
23
provided by the Government
167.761 .000
17.9%
21.4% 29.9%
19.4% 11.4%
.603
during special occasions
The price ceiling for the hotels/
accommodations had been
41
31
39
50
40
fixed by Government to
20.4%
15.4% 19.4%
24.9% 19.9%
.676
encourage Tourism
The price ceiling had been set
by the Government for
38
37
55
45
26
18.4% 27.4%
22.4% 12.9%
.629
consumer goods in Salalah
18.9%
Quality checks were done at the
consumer markets of Salalah by
41
50
51
47
12
24.9% 25.4%
23.4% 6.0%
.566
the Government
20.4%
Government intervenes to
organize the flights to Salalah –
37
69
44
39
12
especially during festival
18.4%
34.3% 21.9%
19.4% 6.0%
.518
season
Null Hypothesis : There is no relationship between the services facilities and the choices of the respondents.
From Table 4, it can be seen that the p-value is < .05. Therefore, it is evident that the null hypothesis gets
rejected i.e. there is a relationship between the choices of the respondents and the Marketing & promotion.
From the results obtained from the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, comparing the K-S values it can be seen that
‘Price ceiling for the hotels/ accommodations had been fixed by Government to encourage Tourism’ (.676)
ranked first, followed by ‘Price ceiling had been set by the Government for consumer goods in Salalah’ (.629)
ranked second and ‘Accommodations for discounted prices were provided by the Government during special
occasions’ (.603) ranked third.
82
Can Salalah be a round-the-year Tourism Destination?
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
eISSN-2708-8006, Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-
88
Table 5 Government Support
Statements
SA
A
N
D
SD
K-S
p-
Value
2
value
The Government provides
education and training to the
38
60
45
44
14
tourism industry people of
18.9%
29.9% 22.4%
21.9% 7.0%
.422
Salalah
Government organizes events
and festivals at Salalah to boost
60
65
49
20
7
32.3% 24.4%
10.0% 3.5%
.371
tourism
29.9%
Private Sector invests in
42
69
49
34
7
Salalah Tourism development
20.9 %
34.3% 24.4%
16.9% 3.5%
.398
The private sector contributes
to the development of Salalah
41
66
49
33
12
32.8% 24.4%
16.4% 6.0%
.402
99.448
.000
tourism
20.4%
The Government encourages
entrepreneurship in Tourism
44
61
58
28
10
30.3% 28.9%
13.9% 5.0%
.399
and small businesses
21.9%
The Government provides
financial assistance to the new
47
75
37
37
5
37.3% 18.4%
18.4% 2.5%
.366
ventures at Salalah
23.4%
Government support the people
of Salalah through land
40
51
57
33
20
25.4% 28.4%
16.4% 10.0%
.441
development schemes
19.9%
Null Hypothesis : There is no relationship between the Government and Non-government support, and the
choices of the respondents.
From Table 5, it can be seen that the p-value is < .05. Therefore, it is evident that the null hypothesis gets
rejected i.e. there is a relationship between the choices of the respondents and the Government support. From
the results obtained from the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, comparing the K-S values it can be seen that
‘Government support people of Salalah through land development schemes’ (.441) ranked first, followed by
‘Government provides education and training to tourism industry people of Salalah’ (.422) ranked second
and ‘Private sector contributes to the development of Salalah tourism’ (.402) ranked third.
Table 6 Salalah as a Tourism Destination
Statements
SA
A
N
D
SD
K-S
p-
Value
2
value
Places at Salalah could be
easily reached without any
30
58
49
47
16
28.9% 24.4%
23.4% 8.0%
.542
practical hindrances
14.9%
The climate was good and
66
65
40
24
6
having a good flora and fauna
32.8%
32.3% 19.9%
11.9% 3.0%
.468
I learned from websites and
media that Salalah having
62
65
48
20
6
32.3% 23.9%
10.0% 3.0%
.472
beautiful places to visit
30.8%
Salalah was the right place for
73
62
40
18
8
152.327 .000
rest and recuperation – vacation 36.3%
30.8% 19.9%
9.0%
4.0%
.462
Attracted by the natural
products available at Salalah
62
69
48
12
10
.455
like incense, frankincense, etc.
30.8%
34.3% 23.9%
6.0%
5.0%
I visit Salalah to attend the
57
73
36
30
5
grand gala festival
28.4%
36.3% 17.9%
14.9% 2.5%
.453
I was visiting Salalah as I was
50
34
46
50
21
intending to start a business
24.9%
16.9% 22.9%
24.9% 10.4%
.582
© Al Jahwari & Khan
83
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-88
I am planning to start a
tourism-related business at
54
40
42
41
24
19.9% 20.9%
20.4% 11.9%
.575
Salalah
26.9%
People of Salalah were very
friendly and receptive which
80
51
42
22
6
25.4% 20.9%
10.9% 3.0%
.491
inspired me to visit Salalah
29.8%
Null Hypothesis : There is no relationship between Salalah as a tourism destination and the choices of the
respondents.
From Table 6, it can be seen that the p-value is < .05. Therefore, it is evident that the null hypothesis gets
rejected i.e. there is a relationship between the choices of the respondents and the services facilities. From
the results obtained from the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, comparing the K-S values it can be seen that ‘I am
visiting Salalah intending to start the business (.582) ranked first, followed by ‘I am planning to start a
tourism-related business at Salalah’ (.575) ranked second and ‘Place at Salalah can be easily reached without
any practical hindrances’ (.542) ranked third.
Table 7 (a), (b), (c) & (d) Regression Analysis
Model
Variables Entered
Variables
Method
Removed
1
Government support,
…
Service facilities, Marketing
& Promotion, Infrastructure
facilities b
a Dependent variable: Salalah as a Tourism Destination
b All requested variables entered
Model Summary
Model
R
R Square
Adjusted R
Std. Error of
Square
the Estimate
1
.511 b
.261
.246
4.44884
b Predictors: (constant), Government support, Service facilities, Marketing & Promotion,
Infrastructure facilities
ANOVA
Model
Sum of
df
Mean
F
Sig.
Squares
Square
Regression
1357.907
4
339.477 17.152
.000 b
Residual
3839.691
194
19.792
Total
5197.598
198
a Dependent variable: Salalah as a Tourism Destination
b Predictors: (constant), Government support, Service facilities, Marketing & Promotion,
Infrastructure facilities
84
Can Salalah be a round-the-year Tourism Destination?
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
eISSN-2708-8006, Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-
88
Coefficients
Unstandardized
Standardized
Model
Coefficients
Coefficients
t
Sig.
B
Std. Error
Beta
(constant)
5.532
2.032
2.723
.007
Infrastructure
.078
.067
.084
1.164
.246
Services
.268
.075
.254
3.582
.000
Marketing & Promotion
.147
.062
.168
2.370
.019
Government support
.201
.076
.188
2.633
.009
a Dependent Variable: Salalah as a Tourism Destination
From the coefficient table, it can be seen that the p-value for the independent variable infrastructure is more
than 0.05. Therefore, eliminating the variable infrastructure, the linear regression analysis is carried out again
the results are as follows:
Table 8 (a), (b), (c) & (d) Revised Regression Analysis
Model
Variables Entered
Variables
Method
Removed
1
Government support,
…
Service facilities, Marketing
& Promotion b
a Dependent variable: Salalah as a Tourism Destination
b All requested variables entered
Model Summary
Model
R
R Square
Adjusted R
Std. Error of
Square
the Estimate
1
.506 b
.256
.245
4.45290
b Predictors: (constant), Government support, Service facilities, Marketing &
Promotion
ANOVA
Model
Sum of
df
Mean
F
Sig.
Squares
Square
Regression
1331.072
3
443.691
22.377
.000 b
Residual
3866.526
195
19.828
Total
5197.598
198
a Dependent variable: Salalah as a Tourism Destination
b Predictors: (constant), Government support, Service facilities, Marketing &
Promotion
Coefficients
Unstandardized
Standardized
Model
Coefficients
Coefficients
t
Sig.
B
Std. Error
Beta
(constant)
6.293
1.925
3.268
.001
Services
.296
.071
.281
4.202
.000
Marketing & Promotion
.162
.061
.185
2.645
.009
Government support
.215
.076
.200
2.844
.005
a Dependent Variable: Salalah as a Tourism Destination
© Al Jahwari & Khan
85
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-88
From the above table, it can be seen that the p-value F (22.377) is .000 < .05, and the p-value for the
independent variables – Service facilities, Marketing & Promotion, and Government support are all less than
0.05. i.e. There exists a linear relationship between the dependent variable – Salalah as a Tourism Destination
and the independent variables – Service facilities, Marketing & Promotion, and Government support. In other
words, Services, Marketing & Promotion, and Government support impact Salalah as a Tourism Destination
but there is no effect of infrastructure facilities on Salalah as a Tourism Destination. Therefore, the derived
linear regression can be written as follows:
SD = 6.293 + 0.296 S + 0.162 M + 0.215 G
Where SD – Salalah as a Tourism Destination
S – Service facilities
M – Marketing & Promotion, and
G – Government Support
Discussion
Among the infrastructure facilities, the majority of the respondents reported that ‘Bank ATMs are NOT
enough in Salalah’ followed by ‘Tourist spots in Salalah are quite large enough to accommodate the visiting
tourists’ and ‘Cleanliness is NOT maintained throughout the year in Salalah’.
Among the Service facilities, the majority of the respondents reported that ‘Plenty of sport and amusement
facilities are available in Salalah’, followed by ‘Transportation facilities are sufficient enough to visit
different places at Salalah’ and ‘Tourist guides are available at all the tourist spots of Salalah’.
Among the Marketing factors, ‘Price ceiling for the hotels/ accommodations has been fixed by Government
to encourage Tourism’ followed by ‘Price ceiling has been set by the Government for consumer goods in
Salalah’ and ‘Accommodations for discounted prices are provided by the Government during special
occasions’.
Among the Government support factors, ‘Government support people of Salalah through land development
schemes’, followed by ‘Government provides education and training to tourism industry people of Salalah’
and ‘Private sector contributes to the development of Salalah tourism’.
Among the Tourism destination deciding factors, ‘I am visiting Salalah intending to start the business’,
followed by ‘I am planning to start a tourism-related business at Salalah’ and ‘Place at Salalah can be easily
reached without any practical hindrances’.
Among all the independent variables – Service facilities, Marketing & Promotion, and Government support
have an impact on the Tourism Destination factors.
Conclusion
Most of the respondents complained about the following services, during their visit to Salalah:
1. The capacity of high ways and roads of Salalah was not enough to bear the seasonal crowd
2. Cleanliness was not maintained
3. The emergency health facilities were not enough
4. The telecommunication (phone/internet) facilities were not sufficient
5. The road directions and road maps were not available from tourism centers
6. Laundry, tailoring, barber were facilities are not enough during the festival
7. Money exchange / ATM count was not enough
However, they did not complain about the electricity/water supply ever got disrupted whereas the petrol
station was reported to be always crowded. From the study, it was observed that the private sector started
contributing to the development of Salalah tourism through establishing tourist offices/tourist guide
centers/transport for tourists and thus started investing in Salalah tourism development.
To sum up, the study revealed that Salalah was busy during the Khareef festival season and that there was a
lack of infrastructural facilities such as Highways, Hygiene, Emergency health facilities, Telecommunication
86
Can Salalah be a round-the-year Tourism Destination?
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
eISSN-2708-8006, Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-
88
facilities, and personal amenity services at Salalah. It was concluded that the marketing to promote Salalah
as a year-round destination was inadequate.
Recommendations
Based on the above, the following recommendations are done:
There are promotion and tour packages available for Salalah on the internet and social media which
attracts more tourists; however, more effort is required.
As suggested by (Al Ghazali et al., 2021) green initiatives for the sustainability of tourism in Salalah
should be triggered as the natural eco-friendly environment will support such a mechanism.
The natural products of Salalah - Incense (bakhoor), Frankincense (Luban), etc. are very famous, and
proper marketing/sales facilities should be provided by the Government.
Small entrepreneurs visiting Salalah especially from the Al Batinah region planning to venture into
Salalah. Government should encourage entrepreneurship tourism and small business at Salalah (Al Badi
& Khan, 2020).
Though Government provides financial assistance to the new ventures at Salalah to encourage tourism
attraction, it should educate the youth of Salalah, train, and prepare them for the future tourism industry
as suggested by (Khan & Krishnamurthy, 2016).
Government should support the people of Salalah through land development schemes etc. It should jointly
with the private sector need to work involving all the stakeholders to improve tourism in Salalah to attract
more people.
References
1. Al-Balushi, S., & Khan, F. R. (2017). Factors influencing the Preference of Private Hospitals to Public
Hospitals in Oman. International Journal of Management, Innovation & Entrepreneurial Research EISSN ,
3 (2), 67-78. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18510/ijmier.2017.323
2. Al Badi, O., & Khan, F. R. (2020). Examining Challenging Factors of Tourism Entrepreneurship in
Oman using PLS-SEM. International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies , 1 (1), 48-
64. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.47259/ijrebs.115
3. Al Balushi, M., Butt, I., & Al Siyabi, K. (2014). Review of Awareness and Views on Branding Oman as
a Nation. International Journal of Business and Economics , 5 (1), 5-20.
4. Al Ghazali, A., Zaloumis, B., & Khan, F. R. (2021). Sustainable Practices in International Chain Hotels
in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies ,
2 (2), 17-28. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.47259/ijrebs.223
5. Antara, M., & Sumarniasih, M. S. (2017). Mapping of featured micro-small-medium enterprises in
Buleleng Regency, Bali, Indonesia. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues , 7 (4), 49-53.
6. Ashley, C., De Brine, P., Lehr, A., & Wilde, H. (2007). The role of the tourism sector in expanding
economic opportunity . John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Cambridge, MA.
7. Aulia, S., & Almandhari, A. (2015). Opportunities of tourism in Sultanate of Oman. International
Journal of Research in Tourism and Hospitality , 1 (2), 13-15.
8. Bednarska, M. A. (2017). Does the effect of person-environment fit on work attitudes vary with
generations? Insights from the tourism industry. International Journal of Management and Economics , 53 (1),
65-83.
9. Bhap, T. D. (2017). Bhutan a Champion of Sustainable Tourism. Bhutan Mind Vacation Tours .
10. Boers, B., & Cottrell, S. (2007). Sustainable tourism infrastructure planning: A GIS-supported approach.
Tourism Geographies , 9 (1), 1-21. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/14616680601092824
11. Bunja, D. (2003). Modernizing the Croatian tourism industry. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management , 15 (2), 126-128. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/09596110310462986
12. Chandralal, K. P. L. (2010). Impacts of tourism and community attitude towards tourism: A case study
in Sri Lanka. South Asian Journal of Tourism and Heritage , 3 (2), 41-49.
13. Craik, J. (1997). The culture of tourism (Vol. II). Routledge
14. Cságoly, Z., Sæþórsdóttir, A. D., & Ólafsdóttir, R. (2017). Tourism changing the edge of the wild.
Journal
of
Outdoor
Recreation
and
Tourism ,
17 ,
1-8.
15. Dafuleya, G., Gyekye, A. B., Oseifuah, E. K., Nethengwe, T., & Sumbana, F. (2017). Religiously
motivated travel and rural tourism in Vhembe District of South Africa. Tourism Economics , 23 (4), 911-918.
© Al Jahwari & Khan
87
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-88
16. Dewantara, M. H. (2018). Bali Tourism Stakeholders’ Opinion on International Airport Development in
North Bali. ASC Journal Series, 2018 , 1-8. https://bit.ly/3it0Epx
17. Fong, Y. L., Firoz, D., & Sulaiman, W. I. W. (2018). The Impact of Tourism Advertisement Promotional
Videos on Young Adults. e-Bangi , 14 (3), 1-16.
18. Goodall, B., & Ashworth, G. (2013). Marketing in the Tourism Industry (RLE Tourism): The promotion
of destination regions . Routledge. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203068595
19. Islam, M. T., Boro, A., & Phuntsho, N. (2019). A study on sustainable tourism development in Bhutan:
quantifying the awareness of millennial people of Bhutan towards Sustainable Development. Journal Of
Tourism Intelligence And Smartness , 2 (1), 1-13.
20. S., & Ivana, I. (2016). Infrastructure as important determinant of tourism development in the
countries of Southeast Europe. Ecoforum journal , 5 (1), 288-294.
21. Khan, F. R., & Krishnamurthy, J. (2016). Future of Oman Tourism: Perception of the Students in
Tourism Studies. International Journal of Tourism & Hospitality Reviews , 3 (1), 01-11.
22. Kim, D.-Y., Hwang, Y.-H., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2005). Modeling tourism advertising effectiveness.
Journal of Travel Research , 44 (1), 42-49. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287505276590
23. Kotler, P., Makens, J. C., Bowen, J. T., & Baloglu, S. (2018). Marketing for hospitality and tourism .
Pearson Education.
24. Krishnamurthy, J., & Krishnan, Y. (2021). New Distribution Capability (NDC) and its Effects on Travel
Industry in Oman. International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies , 2 (3), 15-26.
25. Latif, W. B., Islam, M. A., Rahman, A., Mohamad, M., & Kongsompong, K. (2016). Conceptual
framework of brand image for tourism industry: tourism management and advertisement as moderators.
Journal
of
Tourism
Management
Research ,
3 (1),
1-9.
26. Leiper, N. (1979). The framework of tourism: Towards a definition of tourism, tourist, and the tourist
industry. Annals of tourism research , 6 (4), 390-407. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-
7383(79)90003-3
27. Leonidova, E. G. (2017). Domestic Tourism Development in a Region. Economic and Social Changes:
Facts, Trends, Forecast , 10 (2), 271-283. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.15838/esc/2017.2.50.15
28. Lu, J., & Nepal, S. K. (2009). Sustainable tourism research: An analysis of papers published in the
Journal
of
Sustainable
Tourism.
Journal of sustainable Tourism , 17 (1),
5-16.
29. A., Mrnjavac, Ž., & L. (2018). Tourism infrastructure, recreational facilities, and
tourism
development.
Tourism
and
hospitality
management ,
24 (1),
41-62.
30. Mirzaev, A. (2018). Estimation of the prospects for the use of recreational facilities in the market of
tourism services.
, 76.
31. Mustafa, A. (2019). The impact of infrastructure on tourism: the case of Sri Lanka.
32. Neal, J. D., Uysal, M., & Sirgy, M. J. (2007). The effect of tourism services on travelers' quality of life.
Journal of Travel Research , 46 (2), 154-163. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287507303977
33. Nel, E., & Binns, T. (2002). Place marketing, Tourism promotion, and Community-based Local
Economic Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The case of Still Bay—The “Bay of Sleeping
Beauty”.
Urban
Affairs
Review ,
38 (2),
184-208.
34. Olimovich, D. I., Khabibovna, K. M., & Alimovich, F. E. (2020). Innovative ways of reducing tourism
seasonality
of
tourist
areas.
(1
(55)),
12-13.
35. Oman Observer. (2019, 4th Feb. 2019). 826,000 Tourists Visited Dhofar in 2018. Oman Observer .
36. Pololikashvili, Z. (2020). Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. UNWTO, https://www.unwto.org/global-
code-of-ethics-for-tourism
37. Phillips, M. R., & Jones, A. L. (2006). Erosion and tourism infrastructure in the coastal zone: Problems,
consequences,
and
management.
Tourism
Management ,
27 (3),
517-524.
38. Plotnikova, M. (2018). Green tourism development in smart communities. Baltic Journal of Economic
Studies , 4 (3), 203-210. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.30525/2256-0742/2018-4-3-203-210
88
Can Salalah be a round-the-year Tourism Destination?
International Journal of Research in Entrepreneurship & Business Studies
eISSN-2708-8006, Vol. 2, issue. 3, 2021, pp. 75-
88
39. Prabhu, C. (2020, 10th Nov. 2020). Oman’s tourism economy grows to RO 1.3 billion in 2019. Oman
ro-13-billion-in-2019
40. Reyes, V., Ortega, O., Noonan, D., & Rizzo, I. (2017). Economics of cultural tourism: issues and
perspectives. Journal Of Cultural Economics , 41 (2), 95-107.
41. Ruane, J. M. (2010). Random Selection. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of research design (Vol.
1-0). https://doi.org/https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412961288.n365
42. Salehi, H., & Farahbakhsh, M. (2014). Tourism Advertisement Management and Effective Tools in
Tourism Industry. International Journal of Geography and Geology , 3 (10), 124-134.
43. Tsiotsou, R. H., & Goldsmith, R. E. (2012). Strategic marketing in tourism services . Emerald Group
Publishing.
© Al Jahwari & Khan
89