MUSCAT, 14 June 2004 — Oman’s newly created tourism ministry has signed an agreement with a Dubai-based marketing agency to promote the sultanate as a leading tourism destination in the Gulf, a newspaper here reported yesterday. The deal, signed on Saturday between the ministry and Fusion Marketing Management, is part of the sultanate’s drive to triple the number of tourist arrivals by 2010, the Oman Daily Observer said. The ministry has already appointed agents in Britain, France, Germany and Australia to promote Oman as a holiday destination, the daily said. The new Tourism Ministry was created by royal decree last Wednesday while Oman’s Sultan Qaboos also named Rajiha bint Abdul Amir bin Ali to head it, appointing the country’s second female Cabinet member in three months.