Tuesday 24 / June / 2025
Muscat: Five Omani students are vying to represent the Sultanate at a competition organised by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organisation, which will see over 40 nations compete this year.
With the title of the competition being ‘Trustworthy Tourism,’ the five students will be travelling across the country, as they design posters that bring out the best of the nation’s tourist hotspots. Of all the posters created, the best one will be selected as Oman’s entry into the competition’s final, to be held from September 3 to 6, at the WIPO Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
Aimed at educating tourists about the importance of buying genuine products and highlighting how they can support local businesses, this is the first time Oman is competing in the competition, with the Ministry of Education nominating five students, who are aged between 11 and 17, to represent the country.
Sundus Al Balushi, Khadija Al Maman, Said Al Oufi, Qosai Al Talbi and Dana Al Balushi, travelled with Samira Al Harthy, their supervisor, and Said Al Battashi, the programme coordinator from the ministry, and saw their latest travels take them to Anantara Jabal Akhdar.
“Oman is the only country in the entire Arab world to participate in this competition,” said Al Battashi. “When we first decided to enter this competition, we spoke to experts in this field to know how we had to proceed. Specialised personnel have given us guidance to know what is required for the students to learn the right way.
“Out of 120 students, who’ve been selected by specialists from the Ministry of Education, and after running them through the international qualification standards, the competition entry was awarded to these five students,” he added. “The winning poster will be enhanced and enlarged to show the other qualities of the country, such as airports, borders, malls, tourist attractions, hotels and resorts.”
Dana Al Balushi was also eager to share the experience she and her fellow students had undergone.
“My fellow students and I are very proud to have such kind of a destination in my country, which represents the great beauty of nature, our culture and our heritage,” said Al Balushi.
“This has inspired me to provide even more focus towards promoting and exposing my country via posters and via artwork. I am very happy now to showcase the main elements of our country.”
“I saw many other tourists in the resort, and I am concerned that they should know their rights, and should only spend their money on original products from Omani souvenir shops that sell real souvenirs,” she added. “As an Omani, I really value the visitors who come here to contribute to our country’s tourism industry.”
The students also realised that competitions like this could really help them understand how to best help the nation in the long-term.
“I am very proud of the heritage that I’ve inherited from my father and his father and as an Omani, I want to pass this on to my children, and therefore, I need to make our visitors aware of the importance of buying the right products,” said Sundus Al Balushi.
“This campaign will help Omanis and tourists understand that this shopping is based on trust, and that they are buying the right products, which are hand-crafted by Omanis, and are the true products of Oman,” she added.
“They will realise that these products must not be wasted in the future, so that only the best material is used, so that the health of these tourists is also not impacted.”
