A Brief History

Why Oman is such a new destination

If you take a cruise along the coast you may notice a couple of hotels in the early stages of development. For international hotel groups believe that tourism will expand greatly over the next few years. People who travel now are lucky.

It was not always like this of course. Even in the 1970's there were only about 6 miles of tarmac roads in the whole of the country. So what has made the transformation come about?

First, the Omanis now actively welcome tourists and are spending record marketing budgets persuading travellers to visit. Visas were once difficult to obtain, and in fact at one time all visas were issued by the Sultan himself, but the rules have recently been greatly relaxed. The political scene has also changed dramatically since the 1970's.

It was in 1970 that the current Sultan, Qaboos, came to power. He set about modernising the infrastructure using some of the proceeds from its modest oil revenues. However, Oman is still keen to keep its traditions and culture and uses local workers where possible.

Before the 70's however, things were different with rebels from Dhofar almost otherthrowing the government which was led by Qaboos' father, Said.

His rule brought to an end a long running dispute over who governed the interior of Oman which at one time was largely ruled independently from Muscat. But ultimately his refusal to advance his country led to his downfall, as he banned all western influences. Education was frowned upon, and so was travel between the coast and the interior. Banned too were radios and newspapers!

People worked in either agriculture or fishing, although a few wealthy merchants enjoyed lucrative trade monopolies in return for keeping out of politics.

In its early years, the frankincense trade brough great wealth until around 400AD. Later, Islam arrived in various forms, and today the Ibadis make up around 75% of the population - a moderate form of Islam that is not practiced anywhere else in the world.