LOCALS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF OMAN

Studying locals' attitude towards tourism is one of the areas which have been well established in the global tourism research. Conversely, little work has been conducted in the Middle East area in general and Oman in particular. Although tourism is a relatively new sector in Oman, tourism's contribution to the country is evolving. Oman has as well announced its new tourism strategy 2040, which aims, in priority, to involve the Omani community in tourism in different ways, including investment, work, and decision-making. Accordingly, this research seeks to examine Nizwa city residents' attitudes towards the tourism development process taking place in their region. In this regard, a combination of self-administrated surveys and semi-structured interviews was utilized in this research, which helped generate qualitative and quantitative data. The research results shed light on the principal thoughts and concerns of the Omani citizens towards tourism, which could enhance the ongoing efforts for developing tourism in Oman.