The Creation of a Grand Tour: Combining contemporary cities and timeless scenery

Take a look at my previous articles The Open Road and The Beginnings of Rally Royale for the earlier parts of this story. A love for the open road has been within me since before I can remember. All my life I have been around classic and prestige cars and now finally I have the opportunity to create an iconic car event of my own.

We’ve been working on the Oman Grand Tour since early 2013. (Yes these things take a lot of planning and promoting to gain momentum!) Our first recce was in March 2013 when Arthur and I met up with various ministries and officials to ensure there was support for such an event. It was the Ministry of Tourism that was most enthralled by the idea of creating a majestic car event in their country. They clearly saw how attractive this would be to the world outside. Oman is the perfect setting for people who are looking for great driving conditions. The country has greatly invested in tourism, with new resorts, superb roads and awareness raising. We chose to work more closely with them to ensure that any plans we were making would be complementary to their own vision.

We’ve been back to Oman many times, each time further developing the options and possibilities for creating the Oman Grand Tour. We have organised a weeklong and weekend event (for those with just a few days spare) that takes participants around some of the most iconic and breathtaking roads near Oman’s capital, Muscat. The Tour culminates in a Grand Gala of prestige and classic cars and many evenings of fine dining in some of Muscat’s finest restaurants. For the full details of what we’ve included into this weeklong extravaganza take a look at our website and the pre-event guide here. You can also find information on how to sign up to either the weeklong rally event, or just for the weekend, over on our website here.

Already a popular destination for many Europeans, as well as regional communities such as Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi, it’s a secure and safe haven in the crown of Arabia. Oman has a long and warm relationship with Britain, whose interests in the region ensure additional levels of security for foreign nationals. The Ministry of Tourism will be coordinating logistics on the ground, and both the Oman Automobile Association and Royal Oman Police are fully briefed on our programme. Additionally we have partnered with Quintel Intelligence, the London based security firm who specialise in HNW security.

This year we’re exploring the north-eastern region of Oman. We shall use Muscat as our base and run a series of “hub rallies” taking in the beautiful and diverse landscape around Oman’s capital city. As the first of its kind, this will allow us to introduce the concept of rallies to the region as well as Oman to the world.

There will be coastal drives, explorations of the magnificent mountains as well as public parades and displays in the region. We’ll include in the event visits to historic and unique locations such as the Grand Mosque, traditional Souk and National Opera House.

One of the highlights of the event will be a public parade along Muscat’s famous ocean facing “Love Drive”. We’re also planning a mini concours d’elegance and public display in the city.

On Saturday evening there will be a grand finale gala event which is being sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism. This will be an exclusive evening for around 150 invited guests, and will include a competition for everyone’s favourite car, a charity raffle, live entertainment and sumptuous international food at one of Muscat’s finest venues.

Omani racing driver Ahmad Al Harthy will join the rally and show his support for safe motoring in Oman. Ahmad is Arabia’s number one racing driver, and now operates from the UK where he’s established the Oman Racing Team. Ahmad is Aston Martin’s ambassador for the Middle East, and the only Arab driver to participate in the recent world class European Spa GT3 endurance championship.

There’s many more plans that are being prepared behind the scenes, and we’ll be updating people regularly through our newsletter which can be found here.

Oman offers a cultural fusion which is identifiable not just in the smile of every greeting, but also in the architecture, cuisine and dress. Omanis  are among the most hospitable of nations, open to new ideas, and keen to share the wisdom and value of their own traditions and heritage. So join us on this exciting adventure to explore Oman's rich culture and history and experience the absolute luxury it has on offer. To get involved in the Oman Grand Tour, visit our website, where you can take a look at the Pre-Event Guide or register your interest. If this hasn't sparked your interest yet, take a look at our teaser video, showing some of the highlights of the area and a sneak peak of what is included in the Oman Grand Tour.

Whilst all this is being organised, we are also in discussions with automobile institutions and individual networks in Saudi, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman about joint-ventures and new programmes for bringing the Rally Royale vision to other parts of the region.

We’re also planning some exciting European events which have direct links with Arabia, creating unique driving experiences that engage all the senses, will be huge fun to be part of and create enduring stories for television and online entertainment.  

There is much to look forward to, both for the upcoming Oman Grand Tour, and also in the future, with many more rallies that we will be organising and enjoying! Keep up to date by visiting our website at RallyRoyale.com and signing up to our newsletter.

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