Bill, all governments engage in blathering self serving propaganda which is frequently divorced from reality. Witness our own governments current sales pitch on Obamacare.

I think the Omanis really do want to boost tourism.. it makes eminent sense. They have a beautiful country and the oil won't last forever... they are just taking a staggeringly slow and exasperating path despite their public embrace of the concept. On their side, they don't exactly have a ton of experience in promoting such a large and potentially risky undertaking. Probably no one in the Omani government wants to risk promoting a project that could have other thaan a smooth trouble free path. They have to realize and come to grips with the fact that any project of substance has risks.. no pain, no gain. This is probably a tough concept for them. I hope they go for it.. it will bring them huge payback in the region.