By Manal Abdel Fattah
In a world where travelers and adventure lovers are now increasingly turning to social media platforms such as YouTube and other digital platforms to obtain the views and opinions of individuals about tourist destinations, the urgent need for the Sultanate of Oman to adopt ambitious plans to create digital content on the Internet about… Various tourist attractions to enhance the sector and raise its contribution to the gross domestic product to include the Sultanate of Oman on the list of global travel destinations.
A study conducted by Sultan Qaboos University by Dr. Khaled Hussein, Assistant Professor, on the extent of the influence of content creators in increasing the flow and attraction of tourists to the Sultanate of Oman and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage, revealed that by analyzing the best 80 travel-related videos on YouTube, the study conducted using social media analysis tools showed Social media sites such as Tube Buddy, Vid IQ, and Social Blade indicate that these videos received 24.427 million views, 284,412 likes, and 35,756 comments.
The analysis concluded that there was a noticeable gap, as the videos mostly focused only on three governorates: Muscat, Dhofar, and Al Dakhiliyah, while marginalizing the other governorates that had the same attractive tourist scenery. All the videos and photos highlighted in particular the Nizwa Wilayat and the Muscat and Dhofar governorates, all of which were Designed by foreign content creators, surprisingly, there is a scarcity of Omani content creators among the top-rated videos on YouTube.
The study emphasized the untapped potential of the authorities concerned with managing tourist destinations in the Sultanate of Oman to harness the capabilities of Omani content creators in social media, and provide a strategic means for sustainable competitive advantage in the dynamic tourism sector. It said, “At a time when the Sultanate of Oman is charting its path towards reviving the tourism movement, adopting the narrative Digital may be the key to unleashing tourism’s latent potential on the global stage.
The study stated that the authorities concerned with the tourism sector in the Sultanate of Oman must cooperate with content makers, travel video bloggers and influencers to promote and display the various tourist places and attractions in the Sultanate of Oman to address the gap and imbalance in tourism content on social media and digital platforms on the Internet.
The study pointed out that the establishment of YouTube channels by the authorities concerned with managing tourist destinations in the Sultanate of Oman could enhance the position of the Sultanate of Oman among the top tourist destinations in the world and make it a tourist attraction at the level of domestic and foreign tourism, noting that the digital content must be comprehensive. In multiple languages to facilitate organization and attract major global markets such as China, India, Turkey and Indonesia, Oman’s cultural and historical richness should also be highlighted to make it a global center for cultural tourism.
The study recommended that institutions concerned with the management of tourist destinations, in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, must create profiles on leading digital platforms to disseminate tourism information and engage audiences in various types of social media channels such as (YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WeChat, LinkedIn). Pinterest) This strategic approach aims to enhance awareness and attract tourists of different nationalities, which contributes to raising economic growth in the various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman.
