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What’s happening in and around Oman this May

Summer rates at the Shangri-La…

From June 1 to September 30, Shangri-La’s Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa is offering four packages to lure guests to its hotels and provide solace from the brutal heat of summer. These packages are aimed at divers, spa devotees, nature lovers and families with small children. The first, ‘Dive and Drive in Oman’, is open only to UAE residents, and constitutes one night at Al Waha, the largest of the resort’s three hotels, and a two-tank dive trip for two. The waters off the coast of the sultanate are richly populated by sea life, reefs and shipwrecks, and the package, which costs RO104 per room, includes all diving equipment necessary for underwater exploration.

The other packages are available only to GCC residents, and include a dolphin-watching offer (one night at Al Waha with a boat trip for two, for RO90 per room); and ‘Spa Indulgence’, in which one night in Al Husn is paired with a four-hour treatment for two at Chi, the spa attached to the resort. Chi comprises 12 treatment villas and hammams for men and women. The package costs RO225 per room. Families, meanwhile, can take advantage of a special rate for two, interconnecting rooms at Al Waha, RO120 per night (minimum of two nights).

In addition to the children’s club, Little Turtles, are other child-friendly attractions, including swimming pools, a ‘lazy river’ and an Internet café. All prices exclude tax and service charges.

The same hotel group has also recently launched Signature Events, a programme that aims to improve the quality of events at its many hotels round the world. Anyone planning large-scale events can now meet experts from the finance and banqueting departments, for example, and people attending events can book their rooms online. There is also a ‘meeting package’ for groups requiring more than 50 bedrooms, which features appealing benefits for the organisers.

For further details about Signature Events and the summer package trips, visit the website: www.shangri-la.com.

… and at The Chedi

The Chedi Muscat, too, is offering a special summer rate, from May 16 to September 30, which is open only to Oman residents. Guests can check in early (at 10am) and check out late (6pm), enabling them to make the most of the facilities. There is also a ten per cent discount on food and drinks at The Restaurant, and a 30 per cent discount at the luxurious spa. One night costs RO76 per room, and includes breakfast. Its ‘Summer Breeze’ package, three nights on a B&B basis, plus supper for two up to the value of RO25 per head, is RO299, open to GCC residents only. All prices include tax.

For further details, visit the website: www.ghmhotels.com.

Continental break

Zahara Holidays (tel: 24 400822) has launched a 14-night ‘Enchanting Europe’ package holiday, which leaves Oman on July 5 and August 2. The tour, RO999 per person (including return flights, transfers and first-class accommodation), carries tourists throughout the Continent. First stop is Frankfurt, the business capital of Germany; then the beautiful city of Munich; and then Innsbruck, in the Alps. From Germany, the tour moves to Italy, to Venice, city of the Doges, via Verona (the setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet), and thence to Montecatini, Pisa, famous for its leaning tower, and the Renaissance city of Florence. Tourists will stop at Milan en route to Interlaken in Switzerland, and then visit Jungfrau Peak, the highest point in Europe. Paris, Versailles and London (pictured) conclude the trip, which Zahara Holidays says aims to “reflect the contrast, culture and colours of the Continent.”

Coffee stop

World-renowned Italian brand Illy sells a single blend of 100 per cent Arabica coffee. The company, founded in the 1930s, has a slick image, in part due to its association with good design; its uniquely shaped, white-china espresso cup, for example, was created in 1992 by eminent architect Matteo Thun. Illy coffee is available in Muscat at Grind Floor, a new coffee bar in the lobby on the ground floor at Radisson SAS Hotel Muscat. Grind Floor is open to hotel guests and outside visitors alike. In addition to Illy coffee, served both hot and iced, the café offers teas and fruit smoothies. It is open from 7am until 11pm.

For details, call 24 487777.

Egypt calls

In 2006, over 16,000 visitors from Oman descended on Egypt, the North African country famous for its iconic ancient monuments. In addition to the pyramids, Egypt has beaches to commend it to tourists; it borders both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. In an attempt to raise the profile of the country, and also to strengthen relations, the Egyptian Tourism Authority (ETA) is currently undertaking a tour that began in Libya and then came to Oman. By its end, the ETA’s tour will have included the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Sand blast

Driving in the desert is not for the uninitiated. A one-day course in desert driving is now being offered in sands at Abyadh, near Barka. The course fee, RO170, includes the cost of a vehicle, fuel, food and refreshments, and a donation to charitable causes.

For details, call 24 799966, or visit www.touroman.org.

Petrol rush

General Motors, which was founded in 1908 and has operated in the Middle East for over 80 years, has announced record sales figures in Oman. The first quarter sales are up 33 per cent by comparison with last year’s figures. This financial performance reflects General Motors’s success throughout the UAE: March 2007 was the company’s forty-first consecutive month of record sales, driven in part by the growth of sales in Saudi Arabia. The car that particularly appealed to buyers was the best-selling Chevrolet Caprice. The company also sells Hummers, Saabs, Opels and Cadillacs.

Among the last is the new 2007 Cadillac SRX, one of a clutch of cars to be launched recently. The new SRX has smart, hand-crafted interiors including a redesigned steering wheel and instrument panel. It is available with a Bose 5.1 digital surround system.

For further details, visit www. gm.com.

The Volkswagen Touareg, meanwhile, comes with a V8 or V6 engine, and features technologies such as a front-scan function that uses a radar sensor to monitor the distance between the car and the vehicle in front. For details, call Wattayah Motors on 24 573761.

The new 2007 Wrangler, which is available in two versions (Sahara and Sport), has improved ground clearance, with short front and rear overhang, enabling it to navigate some very challenging terrain. Jeep has also launched a four-door Wrangler, the so-called Wrangler Unlimited – it has more space for both luggage and passengers. For details, visit www. jeep.com.

A new Audi, the Audi Cross Coupé Quattro (shown here), combines the good looks of a sports car with the spaciousness of a four-seater SUV. This 4WD model is ecologically sensitive: the diesel particulate filter and Bluetec system reduce the amount of soot and nitric oxide emitted by the car. It has a folding fabric roof, too, which is powered electrically. Watch out for the new Audi A5 as well – a powerful, sporty, two-door coupé not due to arrive in the Middle East until early next year. For details, visit www.audi.com.

Ozone outlook

Ozone therapy is an alternative treatment reputed to alleviate a variety of complaints. It has been used to treat injured athletes, for example, and as a beauty aid, to improve the elasticity of the skin. The medicinal qualities of ozone were suggested during World
War I, when infected wounds washed with ozone-rich rainwater seemed to heal more quickly than those bathed with river water.

Professor Mohamed Nabil Mawsouf (above left), professor of pain management and head of the Ozone Therapy Unit at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, claims that during his 35 years at the Institute, of the diabetic foot cases assigned to him as a last resort before amputation, some 70 per cent were cured by ozone therapy. Until now, ozone therapy has been unavailable in Oman, but a new Ozone Sauna is being introduced at Elixir Health Centre for people who suffer chronic rheumatoid pain. Dr Rami Mohmoud Hammoud (above right), human resources manager at the centre, notes that ozone toothpaste and topical creams will also be available later this year from the health centre.

Youth on the roads

Oman’s first Road Safety Week was held last month, from April 23 to 29. Statistics and a survey by Al Mustadaama revealed that in the first two weeks of January this year, 120 people were killed and 1,456 people injured in 1,730 accidents – all in the sultanate. Road Safety Week sought to highlight the dangers of bad driving habits such as speeding and using mobile telephones while at the wheel. The underlying theme of the week was ‘Youths on the Roads’: according to the World Health Organisation, around 1,045 children die every day on roads round the world, a sobering statistic intended to encourage drivers to be conscientious and careful.

An idea for Oman?

Palau, an island state 500 miles east of the Philippines, is renowned for its diving. It is also at the forefront of a worldwide movement to ban fishing in key reefs in order to encourage prized species to return. It now protects an area of reefs and lagoon waters amounting to 460 square miles.

In 2005, at a meeting of the United States Coral Reef Task Force, Palau’s president, Tommy Remengesau Jr, launched his so-called Micronesian Challenge, encouraging the rest of the region to set aside for conservation 30 per cent of its coastal waters, and 20 per cent of its land area, by 2020. Palau has reached this target (although these areas are not all policed); the rest of the region has some way to go, however.

In 1998, sea-current changes created by El Niño caused around a third of Palau’s corals to turn white and die. Establishing no-fishing areas in the mid-1990s had done nothing to protect Palau from this so-called reef bleaching. The government introduced legislation to integrate existing protected areas (those set aside for tourists, for example) with another 30 per cent of places that best resisted reef bleaching, or recovered from it quickly. Today, the plan is close to being completed; by the end of the decade, ten years before 2020, it should be fully in place.