Order 1303152: Impact of public transportation on tourism in oman

Impact of Public Transportation on Tourism in Oman

There is a call for the improvement of public transport in Oman in order to improve the tourism industry. The need for this measure is based on its positive impacts experienced on the tourism sector in a number of countries in the world. Countries such as Vietnam experienced a 10% increase in both domestic and international tourists by encouraging various sectors to invest in the tourism infrastructure. China experienced a flourishing tourism industry by investing most of its revenue on developing infrastructure. It also invested heavily on other factors that promote tourism such as bicycle leasing, cabs and horseback riding (Wu, Xu, and Eaglen, 2011, p. 63). Nigeria experienced a significant reduction in public transport fares after implementing the implementing bus rapid transport (BRT). The improvement in public transport led to a 30% reduction in transportation cost despite a double increase in the cost of fuel. The move also saved commuters a lot of time it helped them save about 40% of the time they used to take before the implementation. The average waiting time was reduced by about 35% (The World Bank, 2014, p. 160). Time and money spent by poor households in the country stood at N100 and 23 minutes in 2009, a significant improvement from N150 and 90 minutes in 2003

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impacts if Oman’s public transport on the sustainability of the nation’s tourism industry. The tourism sector relies majorly on public transport. Various studies have shown that the availability of a good system of transport contributes to economic development (Belwal, 2017, p. 99). Oman relies on exporting crude oil for most of its revenue. The country, however, has a diverse economy and gains a lot of revenue from business, logistics, and tourism industry. These industries help it stabilize the economy despite the fluctuation in oil prices. The tourism industry requires a reliable and secure means of transport. This factor calls for the government to formulate and implement policies that boost the public transport system in order to increase revenue generation from the sector. According to Manohar and Kumar (2012), transportation is a critical requirement for human beings to conduct daily activities. All socio-economic interactions rely on the developed system of transport for human beings to carry out their day-to-day practices (Manohar and Kumar, 2012, p. 94). People from different geographical locations can only interact when there are a viable means of transport between them.

1.3.1 Main Question

How can public transportation improve the accessibility on tourism in Oman?

1.3.2 Hypotheses:

This research will help the Oman government to benefit more from the tourism industry. For tourists to continue visiting the country, we have to create a transport system that will facilitate an effective and efficient transportation from various parts of the country to different touristic destinations. Just like any other person, tourists would enjoy a transportation network that enables them to move from place to place or arrive at their working destinations on time. Most tourists just like ordinary passengers ensure that the mode of transportation they choose is safe and reliable.

Despite the significant economic progress experienced in Oman over the past few years, the country still suffers poorly-maintained roads which cause slow-moving traffic. The number and width of most of most of the roads are also wanting. The country has been facing the challenge of congested highways due to high ownership of cars by its citizens (Belwal, 2017, p. 100). There are other main problems such as inadequate fleets, double parallel parking, and trucks using inner city roads. These challenges have created a poor transport system that impacts negatively on the nation's tourism industry. It also negatively affects people's quality of life and the economy in general (Belwal, 2017, p. 109). The transport system in the country is no longer a service but a burden to the economy. The issue of public transport, therefore, calls for support from every individual responsible for its improvement. The government and non-governmental organizations should concentrate resources on efforts meant to better the matter.

Increase in the usage of public transport is linked directly to the reliability of public transport. This is the uncertainty of the time of travel from the beginning to the end of a journey. A reliable public transport facilitates the departure and arrival of people regardless of the road conditions (Belwal, 2017, p. 112). The approximate transportation time is not affected by factors such as traffic delays. People arrive at their destinations at undesirable times in cases of the unreliable transport system (Belwal, 2017, p. 101). This factor, therefore, calls for the improvement of tourism infrastructure in Oman to avoid such problems. The move will save the country from losing potential tourists due to poor reputation as well as increasing its net revenue from the sector.

There is a need for the Omani government to develop secure public transport as a measure of achieving the same goal. Various studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between the use of public transport and road safety (Belwal, 2017, p. 109). A safe transport system is characterized by a defensive driving, continuous repair of infrastructure, adherence to international standards, innovative engineering, and community codes (Belwal, 2017, p. 109). Oman's public transport system is described as not being driver-friendly and hazardous, a factor that calls for government intervention through the implementation of improvement measures.

There will be no doubt, that this research will be faced with number of challenges such as the completion of the project within the stated deadline. Also, some difficulties in collecting the survey information. Given that point the researcher is scared that if the participants not respond to the surveys or might response irrelevantly. Adding to it the if participants not timely submit their responses on the matters Furthermore, at some point, the reduction in the number of external tourists might also affect this research.

The Quantitative method that will be implemented in the research. The method helps to understand how tourist are satisfied with the use of public transportation in Oman in order to improve its services and accessibility for tourism sectors and helps to get realistic information for this research. By conducting a survey among users of public transport in Muscat, in order to know their satisfaction with the current state of the public transport in the country. With the collaboration of AL Fajar travel agency, I will be able to send this survey where I can able to collect external tourist information. The activity included mainly the relatively big vehicles involved in the services, such as buses and mini-buses. The high cost of transport associated with small vehicles such as taxis made the team categorize them as a form of private means of transport. It also involves interviewing randomly selected public transport user. I choose Muscat to research because it’s one major tourist destination in Oman. Thus, public transport is widely used there than other cities in Oman.

This research will comprise of survey and interviewing randomly selected public transport user. The survey will be divided into two parts, with the first addressing the general personal attributes such as sex, occupation, and age. The second addressed matters related to the use of public transport such as the pricing method, accessibility, safety, comfort, duration, reliability, and network connectivity. Every participant will get to rate their opinions with every item from the scale from 1 to 5, where 1 stands for most dissatisfied, and 5 for most satisfied with a particular attribute.

According to (Somjai, 2017) The main advantages of survey are:

· Convenient Data Gathering

· Easier to find statistically significant

· Precise Results

· Little or No Observer Subjectivity

· High Representativeness

Based on the main objective of the study which was to research on the state of public transport in Oman in terms of its reliability, safety and mode of pricing, I have based my argument on the findings of most studies on the matter, which show a direct relationship between the three factors and the use of public transport. There is a call for the bodies responsible for public transport to look into the state of these factors in order to encourage both external tourists to visit places within Oman.

The summer season discourages the use of public transport not only for the tourists but for the citizens as well. Our public transport sector lacks shaded walkways and AC waiting rooms, (Jiménez, Hernández, and Pecharromán, 2016, p. 4), a factor that exposes travelers to the high temperatures associated with this time of the year. Government intervention into the matter will help reduce the use of personal cars. This issue causes so many socio-economic adverse effects on the country. Their increased use causes environmental pollution, an increase in road accidents and traffic jams. The country needs to develop roads that link various towns to most of our touristic destinations. Connecting major cities with the emerging regions will have positive impacts on the economic development of the citizens in these regions as well. The government, through the SOLS strategy, has however, employed a number of measures aimed at improving the state of the nation's public transport system. Such include the improvement some of the highways, development of roads connecting important areas such as inland depots, airports, and seaports.

The team was supposed to submit a report of the study by 29th October 2018.

3. Proposed timeline

Belwal, R., 2017. Public transportation in Oman: a strategic analysis. Advances in Transportation Studies, 42(3).

Jiménez, J. F., Hernández, E. H., & Pecharromán, C. S. (2016). Planning The Public Transport System In Muscat (Oman). Universitat Politècnica de València.

Manohar, B. and Kumar, C.V., 2012. Green transportation-public sector transport system. Asia Pacific Journal of Management and Entrepreneurship Research, 1(3), p.94.

The World Bank. (2014). Transport: Sector results profile. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2013/04/14/transport-results-profile.

Wu, Y., Xu, H. and Eaglen, A., 2011. Tourism‐dependent development: the case of Lijiang, Yunnan province, China. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 3(1), pp.63-86.

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