1985
Al Bustan Palace opens at Muscat, built by Sultan Qaboos to host the first GCC summit held in the Sultanate and to mark the fifteenth year of his reign — Oman’s first house of this rank
2003
The Chedi Muscat opens — GHM and Jean-Michel Gathy — and luxury tourism in Oman begins with it; its minimalism is called a revolutionary concept for the Middle East
2005
OMRAN is founded as the state’s executive arm for tourism development — the body behind most of what follows
2008
Six Senses Zighy Bay opens in Musandam for 32 m Omani riyals, 82 villas of palm trunk, stone and mud, reached by a road cut to a village that boats had served for centuries
2011
The Ritz-Carlton takes over the management of Al Bustan Palace under agreement with Oman’s Ministry of Tourism
2011
The Royal Opera House opens at Muscat, commissioned by Sultan Qaboos — the first on the Arabian peninsula
2014
Alila Jabal Akhdar opens on the mountain — the first house to sell Oman as something other than a coast
2016
Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar opens on 1 October on the canyon rim — the second act of the mountain as a destination
2018
The new passenger terminal opens at Muscat International — the infrastructure that upscale tourism had been waiting for