Community Based Tourism
Finding the Euilibrium in the COMCEC Context
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CBT could be a key concept for Oman’s endeavor to further develop sustainable forms of
tourism as opposed to mass tourism. Home to a diverse historical, cultural and natural
heritage, Oman faces challenges in terms of tourist access to elements of heritage. While
this lack of access might be one of the factors that contribute to the protection of these
heritage sites, it also has an opportunity cost in terms of local development. CBT initiatives
might serve as a win-win scenario both for local development and protection of heritage.
Community-based desert camps started in Wahibah Sands in the 1990s in hopes of
converting local resources into authentic tourism products including sleeping in traditional
huts, touring the different parts of the Sands, purchasing local crafts products, watching
traditional folklore performances, going for camel rides, sand skiing, and four-wheeling
across the dunes. The Nomad Desert Camp was the first of these camps established in
1990. By 2002, there were six tourist camps, owned and run by the local tribes. Guests in
the camps would stay in traditional Bedouin huts. The camps target both international and
domestic markets. However, not all of these camps follow a community-based approach.
Some of these camps outsource workers, import goods and services, and include elements
not authentically belonging to the Bedouin life-style. Groups benefitting economically from
the tourism movement are cited to be local residents, travelling camel-owners, local folk
dance groups, henna-selling women, craftsmen and, to a minimal degree, the Bedouin
families.
Benefits:
 Employment and income generation for local communities.
 Increased business for local craftsmen.
 Improvement of infrastructure and tourism superstructure.
 Retained income for tourism services.
 Contribution to cultural preservation.
Costs:
 Commoditization of cultural heritage and the local life style.
 Negative impact on natural environment.
 Increased resentment and resistance by certain local groups due to disturbance of
residents’ life.
 Local intergroup conflicts due to allocation of resources and benefits.
Lessons Learned:
 Need for further improvement in infrastructure and superstructure.
 Facilitation of local participation in decision making and management is a must as well
as the fair distribution of the benefits among different segments of the local population.
 Cooperation between local communities, private and public institutions.
CASE 10 - Oman: Wahibah Sands