title: The Challenges and Strategies for Developing Oman as an Event Tourism Destination
Creators: name: Al Alawi, Amal
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: destination marketing
subject: event tourism
subject: stakeholders
subject: performance

description: Events are considered an essential tourism motivator and an important aspect in the development and marketing plans of most tourism destinations (Abreu-Novais &amp; Arcodia, 2013; Getz, 2008). The importance and role of event tourism for destination competitiveness is well documented in the tourism literature (Mair &amp; Whitford, 2013; Norman &amp; Nyarko, 2021). Prior research has focused primarily on large scale sports events, while smaller scale events have mostly been neglected (Rust, 2020; Weru &amp; Njoroge, 2021; Zhang et al., 2021). Considering the influence of event tourism on residents’ daily life, resident perceptions of the destination performance has also been neglected (Doumi et al., 2020; Parra-Camacho et al., 2020). Additionally, within the academic literature on tourism destinations, the Middle East remains an under-researched region (Alrwajfah et al., 2019; Pike et al., 2021). The study is, therefore, one of the few studies to examine the role of event tourism in the promotion of tourism destinations from a stakeholder perspective with special reference to Oman. The study is situated within a pragmatist paradigm and therefore adopts a mixed-methods research design to address the overall aim and fulfil three research objectives in two research phases. In Phase 1, semi-structured interviews were used to identify the underpinning patterns of the current situation and future plans regarding event management and marketing in Oman to address Research Objective 1 (RO#1) and RO#2. The results revealed that the Omani DMO needs to take advantage of the strengths such as the convention centre and the new airport. The destination’s authenticity, the hospitality of the locals and the variety of tourism resources are adding strength to the competency of the destination. Respondents highlighted that the events sector is struggling with the legalisation system, limited availability of supporting services and the high cost of supply. In addition, the event industry has to neutralise the threats from the external environment including the political instability and the stereotype image of the region. Nonetheless, the Omani DMO can seize numerous opportunities to boost the event industry such as the destination’s geographical proximity to Dubai and the creation of a One-Stop-Shop system and an event portfolio. The interview findings also indicated that the government had a deficiency in communicating with local stakeholders. The respondents indicated that they were unaware of the current tourism marketing strategy and the objectives the DMO is trying to achieve. The results also reveal that the DMO needs to enhance the collaboration and trust between the local event organisers. Among the six event stakeholder groups, the regulators and the audience had the most influence and importance. Qualitative data collected from this first phase were used to assist in an appropriate adaptation of quantitative scales in the second phase. In Phase 2, an online questionnaire was employed in response to RO#3. The Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) showed that the residents perceived all of the twenty-eight event marketing attributes as important and well performed. The IPA indicated that the attribute of “the government listens to my opinions” is the only attribute plotted in the “Concentrate Here” quadrant, signalling a major deficiency of the event industry in Oman. Not many attributes were plotted in the “Possible Overkill” quadrant indicating that the destination is utilising marketing resources efficiently. Most of the marketing attributes were placed in the “Keep Up the Good Work” quadrant indicating that these attributes were well performed and thus require only to be maintained. The “Low Priority” quadrant, with ten unimportant/low performing attributes mostly related to the residents’ involvement with the government. The ANOVA results revealed that the satisfaction level of residents was not affected by their demographic and geographic characteristics. The research findings address the gap in understanding the role of events in tourism destinations and contribute a residents’ perspective in existing event studies literature. The findings also provide practical implications for tourism destination managers and marketers to enable them to understand how to use events effectively as a marketing tool to strengthen the overall competitiveness of their respective destinations.