SALALAH, Oman — The first German Charter carrying 188 passengers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland arrived at Salalah Airport in the wee hours yesterday. The charter operation is being managed by German tour operator FTI Group in association with Sun Express. The flights from Germany, Austria and Switzerland will go via Izmir to Salalah every Saturday, while they will be back on Sunday. The cycle will continue till mid June with a likely volume of 10,000 tourists. According to Mohamed Khater, Country Manager of Meeting Point International Oman, out of 189 seats sold for the first flight to Salalah, there were four passengers from Switzerland, 22 from Austria, 162 from Germany and there was one last minute cancellation.
Mohamed said he was very happy to receive the charter at the Salalah Airport, the preparations for which had started in mid 2011. He said the company was planning to have greater engagement with the local people in terms of offering them jobs after proper training and orientation. “We are planning to hire German speaking Omanis and put them in jobs after training. We have already have done some interviews and are in the process of recruitment. We feel that local people should be involved in jobs like tour jobs, front office executives etc, because they can explain in a better way to the guests about the country, its present and past strength,” he said. The tourists also love to engage with local people and they have a feeling that they are getting the information about the country from authentic people, he said.
As per present strategy, the company has involved big tour companies like Big Extra; French company Starter; second largest last minute booking engine, 5VF and Sonnenklar, which has the distinction of becoming the second largest travel channel in the world. “Meeting Point International Oman has done all the formalities to open an office in Salalah to cater to the customers’ needs and look into the opportunities to involve local people in the operation,” said Mohammed. “The charter’s total capacity to Salalah is about 7,600 seats (189 seats per plane) and we have further capacities on regular flights with Oman Air and Qatar Airways,” he said. The tour company has lined up with local folk artists to offer “daily surprises to the visiting tourists. We are prepared with a lot of surprises and activities for the tourists. Besides, we already have tours and excursions planned for our guests,” said Mohammed.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:
- “Meeting Point International Oman has done all the formalities to open an office in Salalah to cater to the customers' needs and look into the opportunities to involve local people in the operation,” said Mohammed.
- We feel that local people should be involved in jobs like tour jobs, front office executives etc, because they can explain in a better way to the guests about the country, its present and past strength,” he said.
- The tourists also love to engage with local people and they have a feeling that they are getting the information about the country from authentic people, he said.
