The $390m Mina Al Sultan Qaboos Waterfront Project will include business and residential zones, a destination mall, six hotels (including three-, four- and five-star), recreation amenities and tourist attractions.
Developer Omran said the 64-hectare site will blend traditional Omani heritage and aesthetics with modern technology, and a focus on sustainability and harmony with the environment.
The Souq al Mina will be a core public aspect of the development, becoming the home for more than 80 shops, restaurants and cafes that reflect Oman’s cultural heritage with contemporary aesthetics.
Mina Al Sultan Qaboos Waterfront is expected to establish itself as a premier destination in Oman, and the gateway to the growth of the country's tourism industry over the next 20 years and beyond.
Works are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2017. The development will take place in four phases. Phase one, set for completion by 2020, will set in place the regeneration of the historic former port area into a tourism gateway.
It is intended that the Mina Al Sultan Qaboos Waterfront will become a cruise hub, with more than 100 calls a year and the opportunity for homeporting.
Zahara Tours, one of the leading tour operators and ground handlers working with the cruise industry, has met with the master developers to provide views on improvement for better cruise handling, ceo Gautam Broota told Seatrade Cruise News.
'I hope to see them develop to international standards as the development works progress,' he said.
Zahara Tours has received assurance it won't face operational problems in managing cruise calls during the works, and Broota plans to keep cruise lines posted.
Eventually, he said, 'it will be a wonderful port destination and Muscat city will offer an enhanced value' for cruise ship visitors.
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