Oman recently celebrated the opening of a unique, international standard purpose built training facility in the Sharqiya sands. The centre, operated by Outward Bound Oman, is the first of three slated to be constructed in the coming two years, with the second, in Muscat, due to open in late 2018.
The desert centre, which is one of Oman’s first buildings to be totally powered by renewable energy, is already being considered for international architectural awards, and has been designed with multiple user-groups in mind. In addition to challenging and developing talent within the private sector, the centre will be heavily used by groups of young Omanis developing key skillsets, behaviours and toolkits to enable them to successfully enter the world of work. The centre can also accommodate up to 60 people who may want to use it for sustained periods of academic, biological and geographical research.

In addition to acting as a base and equipment store for traditional Outward Bound courses, the centre has a fully equipped AV room for video presentations, two large air conditioned classrooms, four learning pods, prayer rooms, an amphitheatre, majlis, firepit and kitchen.
Interest in the iconic centre is substantial; bookings have already been received for 2019, when it will host 100 delegates for the Outward-Bound World Conference, and one of the earliest groups to use the facility will see an extreme environment medical research group arrive in December 2017. The first of many team-building courses will see the staff of The British Embassy Muscat visit the centre in November 2017.

Mark Evans, general manager of Outward Bound Oman said, “In recent years we have successfully delivered corporate training courses for many of the leading organisations within Oman, including HSBC, Oman Arab Bank, Omantel, Majid Al Futtaim, Port of Salalah, Oman LNG, GAC and PDO. This facility will enable us to work with greater numbers, in a state of the art, international learning environment that is totally unique in Oman”.
 “We enjoy very positive feedback at the end of such courses, and a key factor that is regularly mentioned is being away from technology, and mobile phones. People clearly and increasingly value and welcome something different to the standard power-point and desktop training; the desert and mountains provide a unique environment for unbroken strategic thinking and planning, away from the busy workplace that is full of distractions, and enables an experience that is not quickly forgotten”.