Click image to view larger version

Rest easy

The Assarain Group is building the first in a series of one-stop facilities for highway travellers
BusinessToday reports

It is a scenario that highway travellers, both seasoned and occasional, are familiar with. You stop for fuel midway through a long journey, and all that your stop can provide you with is fuel. Adequate public facilities and rest areas are generally conspicuous by their absence, adding to the inconvenience of long journeys for families with children, among other travellers. However, comprehensive rest stops are a common sight abroad and now Oman is on its way to getting such a facility. The Assarain Group of Companies is constructing the first such concept stop in Sohar. In addition to the existing Shell fuel station, the facility will have a food court with six restaurants, a kid zone, Internet facilities, autocare centres, including a car wash, a bookshop, and perhaps even a pharmacy. It is expected that the Sohar project, covering an area of 15,600sqmtrs, will be ready by the end of the year.

Khalid al Wahaibi, managing director, Assarain Group of Companies, says the idea took root two years ago. “When we looked at the market, we saw that a convenient one-stop for travellers was missing. As all of us who tra-vel long distances around the country, specially with kids, know that you need such a place. There was nothing of this kind in Oman and we wanted to introduce the concept.” There was also the fact that a lot of new roads were coming up in Oman, as also connections between major cities. Besides, the traffic coming in from and going towards the UAE was increasing everyday. Sohar was chosen as the location for the flagship facility because it lies midway between Muscat and Dubai. Wahaibi pegs the daily number of visitors stopping over at his Sohar project between 1,400-1,600. “That is a considerable number of visitors and this is even before the project is ready.”

In addition to fuel that will be provided by a continuing collaboration with Shell, the facility will have autocare services, for which Zubair Automotive and MHD have already signed on. Negotiations are on with prospective tenants for the food court as well as other services on offer. Informs Wahaibi, “Several parties have expressed interest but we are still finalising things.” Interest has also been shown by parties in Dubai. The medium and the location combined are all the more attractive because they will serve regional and international travellers as well as the local population.

Meanwhile, once the Sohar project is complete, there are plans to move into other locations. “We plan to franchise this concept around the country. Within the next three years, we will have four to five such projects, depen-ding on the sites, and also on where the new roads are coming up. We are going to revamp the station at Wadi Adai after Sohar, and we are also looking at Sur and Nizwa for the future.”

Considerable investment has gone into the project, and Wahaibi expects returns in about six years. Meanwhile, it is only a few months before highway travelling along Sohar will change for the better. Something that hopefully will be the first of the many conveniences to come.