Jumeirah Opening Muscat Resort in 2017

The Jumeirah Group will open a 312-room resort in Muscat in 2017.

The group has signed a management agreement with Saraya Bandar Jissah SAOH to operate the under-development resort.

It will contain two hotel components, one consisting of 206 rooms and the other of 106 rooms, in the picturesque cove of Bandar Jissah, near Qantab, nestled between the Hajjar Mountains and the Gulf of Oman.

Alongside a 1,200sqm Talise Spa will be a dive centre, wide range of sports and leisure facilities, selection of restaurants, bars and cafes and kids’ club.

The resort will also include conference and banquet facilities to cater for Oman’s growing MICE sector. A Jumeirah spokesman said it marked a new deal, although it is understood the group has been eyeing Muscat for some time.

As well as signalling Jumeirah’s first property in Oman, the news is significant as it shows the Omanis are keen to embrace more tourism development, although this project will be smaller than the nearby Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, which contains three hotels.