Oman's tourism and hospitality industry has received a major boost with the announcement of plans to build a major hotel in Jebel Sifah, an inspired lifestyle community developed by Muriya - a leading integrated tourism project developer in Oman.

A Spanish developer, which Muriya officials have not named, will construct a 500-room property in Jebel Sifah, said a report in Times of Oman.

“We are in quite an advanced stage of discussion with a Spanish group, which has several hotels in Europe and North America, for them to come and build more than 500 rooms,” Ahmed Dabbous, chief executive officer of Muriya Tourism Development Co., told the Times of Oman.

“They have prepared the preliminary design and now the challenge is to structure the investment. We have already built the (basic) infrastructure in Jebel Sifah.”

Dabbous also said Muriya has an agreement with the Al Barwani group for the latter to build 200 hotel rooms in Jebel Sifah during the first phase.