Venue
📍 Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC), Muscat, Oman (Google maps)
The Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre is located in its own fully integrated precinct, four kilometres from Muscat International Airport. A JW Marriott Hotel and Crowne Plaza Hotel are linked to the Convention Centre. A business park, surrounded by a nature reserve which is a haven for Oman’s exotic birdlife, together with parklands and a wadi, are also part of this picturesque precinct.
Accommodation
Please find below information on the recommended hotels:
- JW Marriott Hotel Muscat ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (within 10 minutes walking distance of the OCEC)
- Crowne Plaza Muscat OCEC ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (within 10 minutes walking distance of the OCEC)
- Hormuz Grand Muscat Radisson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (within 10 minutes by shuttle bus of the OCEC)
Visa
Should you require an invitation letter to apply for a visa to travel to Oman, please complete the visa section in the online registration form. An invitation letter will be sent to you after the receipt of your online registration. Please do not hesitate to contact the Ministry for any visa-related questions via [email protected].
Participants not eligible for a visa-free entry
The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of Oman will facilitate the issuance of visas for participants who are not eligible for a visa-free entry to the Sultanate of Oman. Please send your visa request to [email protected] including a copy of your passport, a photo with a white background and the invitation letter from the organizers.
Participants eligible for a visa-free entry
Participants eligible for visa-free entry to the Sultanate of Oman can apply online. See more information on entry visas to Oman.
Airport transfer
You can contact your hotel in Muscat to arrange a pick-up from the airport. Alternatively, you can hire a taxi directly at the airport or via the Otaxi application. Staff at the welcome desk will be able to assist. The OCEC has an Otaxi prebooking machine located within the OCEC lunch area. The online taxi calculator gobytaxi can indicate the approximate cost of your taxi ride. Taxi fares can be paid in cash and local currency only.
Reservations for meet and greet and fast track service can be made via [email protected] (phone: +968 98264399 or +968 91160486 or +968 24356001).
Welcome desk at Muscat International Airport
Upon arrival at the airport, please feel invited to pass by the dedicated welcome desk where our colleagues will be ready to answer any questions on 24–27 January. The welcome desk is located in the main airport hall near the airport exit and clearly marked with the event name a logo.
Child care
The JW Marriott Hotel Muscat kids club can accommodate children of all ages from 08:00 am – 05:00 pm, and beyond upon special agreement. Drinks, snacks, and lunch are provided for the children free of charge for in-house guests. A daily fee of approx. 15 OMR per child applies for children who are not staying at the JW Marriott Hotel Muscat. An example of the kids club activities can be found here. Reservation for activities is required before 5:00 pm one day prior to the activities. Please contact the kids club (email: [email protected], phone: +968 2492 0110) to book an activity and to discuss individual arrangements.
Evening events
The reception on Monday 27 January will be held at the Royal Opera House Muscat. Shuttle busses to this location will be waiting at the entrance of the OCEC, departing at 18:15 and 18:30 and returning at 21:30 (duration of transfer approx. 20 minutes).
Please note the dress code for the evening reception on 27 January as per the Royal Opera House Muscat policy: Formal or business including suits or dinner jackets for men. No exposed shoulders, or short dresses above the knees. Dishdasha and Massar required for Omanis. No jeans, cargo pants, t-shirts, or tennis shoes permitted.
The Gala Dinner on Tuesday 28 January will be held at the Al Bustan Palace Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Shuttle busses to this location will be waiting at the entrance of the OCEC, departing at 18:15 and 18:30 and returning at 22:00 (duration of transfer approx. 50 minutes).
Sightseeing tour for delegates
On 31 January, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of Oman (MOHERI) is generously inviting delegates to a free of charge full-day tour. The tour will start at approx. 7:30 and finish around 18:00. Highlights include a visit to Nizwa Souq, Nizwa Fort, and the Oman Across Ages Museum.
| 7:30 | Departure from Muscat (from the three hotels: JW Marriott Hotel Muscat, Crowne Plaza Muscat OCEC, Hormuz Grand Muscat Radisson) |
| 9:00 | Arrival in Nizwa |
| 9:00 – 11:30 | Tour in Nizwa old market & Nizwa Fort |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 – 13:30 | Departure and arrival at Oman Across Ages Museum |
| 13:30 – 16:00 | Touring the museum |
| 16:10 – 17:40 | Return to Muscat (to the three hotels: JW Marriott Hotel Muscat, Crowne Plaza Muscat OCEC, Hormuz Grand Muscat Radisson) |
Should you wish to join the tour, please complete the registration form below.
Please note that the busses will depart from and return to the following three pick-up/drop-off points:
Should you not be accommodated in any of the hotels above, you are still welcome to join the tour, but you would need to make sure that you will have arrived at one of the three hotels above, for example by taxi, by 7:15 am.
Please do not hesitate to contact our colleague Salim Al Rawas ([email protected]) at the MOHERI should you have any questions.
Register for the tour on 31 January
Oman tourism agencies
- ⭐ Zahara Tours, Arun Raj, +968 99244157/+968 24400851, [email protected]
- Infinite Tours, Saud Al Junaidy, +968 99319749, [email protected]/[email protected]
- Arabica Orient Tours, Saleh Al Siyabi, +968 96960089/+968 24490500, [email protected]
- Bahwan Tourism LLC, Subrat Mishra, +968 99365369/+968 24650000, [email protected]
- Gulf Dunes, Suleman Jafer, +968 71721538, [email protected]
- Silent Sands, Ginu Abraham, +968 91 94 67 60/+968 24 78 06 55, [email protected]
- Pure Arabia, Ameir Shubber, +968 2439 8849/+968 9591 8619, [email protected]
- Travco Oman, Anuj Bhandari, +968 99833032/+968 2456 4150/2456 4154, [email protected]
- Magic Arabia, Walid Fathy, +968 92213066/+968 24121805, [email protected]
- Khimjis Travel, Abhishek Raj, +968 93203953/+968 24760542, [email protected]
- Oasis Incentives, Mudi S. Devendra- General Manager, +968 94042947 / +968 2411 1183/5/6, [email protected]
- Gulf Ventures, Dileepa Pereira- Assistant Manager, +968 92828578 / +968 24 656400, [email protected]
ISC Member organization’s slide at the ISC General Assembly
We will be displaying a rolling deck of slides about ISC Members during the breaks at the Muscat Global Knowledge Dialogue and Third ISC General Assembly. The deck will feature one slide per ISC Member and will also be made available online.
If you wish to contribute a slide to the presentation (even if your organization is not represented at the meeting), please download the template and add your Member organization’s name, logo and desired text.
The template includes some text suggestions; for example, you may wish to feature:
- your organization’s vision, mission and priorities
- your organization’s main areas of work
- your organization’s current or recent highlights, flagship projects or other initiatives
- an initiative for which your organization is seeking collaboration with other Member organizations
- current opportunities, such as a call for nominations
- contact details of your Member organization’s focal point or delegate
It is up to your organization to decide what information shall be featured on your slide. Please delete whatever is not relevant in the template and edit the text as you see fit.
Kindly send your slide to [email protected] by 19 January.
Showcasing ISC Members’ and partners printed materials
On 27–30 January, ISC Members and ISC partners are invited to display any printed materials related to their organization’s projects, conferences or other initiatives at the dedicated ISC booth. Please share brochures, flyers or other materials through your delegate(s).
Invitation to promote relevant resources virtually at the Muscat Global Knowledge Dialogue
ISC Members are invited to suggest and share links to relevant projects and initiatives, events and publications or other resources that are relevant to the sessions of the programme on 26–28 January. Relevant links will be added to a “Members’ resources” section under the respective agenda item on the programme page. Please send your links to [email protected].
Participant list
Please feel free to connect with other participants prior to the event. Contact details of participants who have agreed to share their details as per the registration system are included in the participant list (password required, for particpants only).
A public version of the list of participants will be available in due course.
