Visit Oman has signed partnership agreements with three exhibition organisers as the Sultanate steps up its push to capture more business travel and conference traffic in 2026. The national travel operator said the deals will support participants and visitors attending a slate of major events across the year, with CONNECT, Arabian Research Bureau and Al Nimr International Exhibition Organizers named as its new MICE partners.
The move gives Visit Oman a bigger operational role in one of the country’s most closely watched non-oil growth segments: meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. According to the announcement, the partnerships cover 13 exhibitions scheduled between February and December 2026, including the IORA Aquaculture and Fisheries Business Forum, Oman Petroleum & Energy Show, Oman Sustainability Week, Oman Design & Build Week and COMEX. That breadth matters because it links travel services directly to trade shows that draw business delegates, exhibitors and specialist buyers rather than leisure tourists alone.
For Oman, the significance goes beyond airport arrivals and hotel occupancy. Business events tend to deliver higher-yield visitors, longer stays and spillover spending across transport, hospitality, logistics and destination services. The agreements suggest Muscat is trying to knit those moving parts together more deliberately, presenting Oman not only as a venue host but as a coordinated events destination with transport, accommodation and visitor handling built into the offer. That is an increasingly competitive space in the Gulf, where destinations are seeking to convert exhibition calendars into wider economic gains tied to diversification strategies.
The timing also aligns with wider efforts to strengthen Oman’s conferences ecosystem. In February, the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre signed a separate strategic agreement with KIT Group to improve planning standards, knowledge transfer and service quality for regional and international events. Officials said that pact was designed to raise Oman’s profile on the global business-events map and build local capabilities in conference management, a sign that the country is working on both the venue side and the visitor-services side of the sector at the same time.
Event calendars at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre underline the scale of the opportunity. Listings for 2026 show a packed run of sector-specific gatherings, from healthcare and education exhibitions in April to logistics, construction, energy and sustainability shows in the following months. Oman Petroleum & Energy Show alone is marketed as a gathering point for more than 30,000 industry professionals, while Oman Design & Build Week is positioned around investment, real estate and infrastructure themes linked to Vision 2040. Such events can serve as anchors for airline bookings, hotel packages, ground transport and destination marketing, which helps explain why Visit Oman is seeking formal ties with organisers rather than handling each event on an ad hoc basis.
Each of the three organisers brings a different base of activity. CONNECT describes itself as a platform builder for Oman’s high-growth markets through exhibitions, conferences and awards. Arabian Research Bureau has an established exhibitions and events business and is associated with COMEX, one of Oman’s better-known technology-focused event brands. Al Nimr International Exhibition Organizers has a portfolio that includes IDF Oman, HORECA Oman, Project Oman and Oman AgroFood, giving Visit Oman access to a spread of exhibitions across design, hospitality, construction and food supply chains.
That diversity may prove useful because MICE growth is no longer driven by a single flagship expo or convention centre alone. Buyers in the sector increasingly look for destination reliability, industry relevance and a smoother delegate experience from visa support to hotel inventory and on-ground transfers. Oman’s pitch rests on a combination of convention infrastructure, a manageable urban footprint in Muscat and the ability to market the country as an extension of the event itself, whether through incentive travel, post-conference leisure or curated business itineraries. The partnerships indicate that Visit Oman wants to sit closer to the commercial centre of that process.
The move gives Visit Oman a bigger operational role in one of the country’s most closely watched non-oil growth segments: meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. According to the announcement, the partnerships cover 13 exhibitions scheduled between February and December 2026, including the IORA Aquaculture and Fisheries Business Forum, Oman Petroleum & Energy Show, Oman Sustainability Week, Oman Design & Build Week and COMEX. That breadth matters because it links travel services directly to trade shows that draw business delegates, exhibitors and specialist buyers rather than leisure tourists alone.
For Oman, the significance goes beyond airport arrivals and hotel occupancy. Business events tend to deliver higher-yield visitors, longer stays and spillover spending across transport, hospitality, logistics and destination services. The agreements suggest Muscat is trying to knit those moving parts together more deliberately, presenting Oman not only as a venue host but as a coordinated events destination with transport, accommodation and visitor handling built into the offer. That is an increasingly competitive space in the Gulf, where destinations are seeking to convert exhibition calendars into wider economic gains tied to diversification strategies.
The timing also aligns with wider efforts to strengthen Oman’s conferences ecosystem. In February, the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre signed a separate strategic agreement with KIT Group to improve planning standards, knowledge transfer and service quality for regional and international events. Officials said that pact was designed to raise Oman’s profile on the global business-events map and build local capabilities in conference management, a sign that the country is working on both the venue side and the visitor-services side of the sector at the same time.
Event calendars at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre underline the scale of the opportunity. Listings for 2026 show a packed run of sector-specific gatherings, from healthcare and education exhibitions in April to logistics, construction, energy and sustainability shows in the following months. Oman Petroleum & Energy Show alone is marketed as a gathering point for more than 30,000 industry professionals, while Oman Design & Build Week is positioned around investment, real estate and infrastructure themes linked to Vision 2040. Such events can serve as anchors for airline bookings, hotel packages, ground transport and destination marketing, which helps explain why Visit Oman is seeking formal ties with organisers rather than handling each event on an ad hoc basis.
Each of the three organisers brings a different base of activity. CONNECT describes itself as a platform builder for Oman’s high-growth markets through exhibitions, conferences and awards. Arabian Research Bureau has an established exhibitions and events business and is associated with COMEX, one of Oman’s better-known technology-focused event brands. Al Nimr International Exhibition Organizers has a portfolio that includes IDF Oman, HORECA Oman, Project Oman and Oman AgroFood, giving Visit Oman access to a spread of exhibitions across design, hospitality, construction and food supply chains.
That diversity may prove useful because MICE growth is no longer driven by a single flagship expo or convention centre alone. Buyers in the sector increasingly look for destination reliability, industry relevance and a smoother delegate experience from visa support to hotel inventory and on-ground transfers. Oman’s pitch rests on a combination of convention infrastructure, a manageable urban footprint in Muscat and the ability to market the country as an extension of the event itself, whether through incentive travel, post-conference leisure or curated business itineraries. The partnerships indicate that Visit Oman wants to sit closer to the commercial centre of that process.
Topics
Oman