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A travel brochure addressed to the Tropical Traveller plopped through my letter box two days before New Year. This is traditionally the time when people turn their minds to what they will do in the summer once the run-up to Christmas and all the winter festivities have passed.

Wait a minute, Tropical Sky is aiming at that sector of the tourist market that is reckoned to be able to afford to go a little further than the rest of us in search of winter sun.

I hadn't asked for this brochure. I suspect that my name had been passed on in some sort of mailing list from another travel company with which I have done business. I unpacked the brochure from the plastic wrapping and put it on the table until such time as I would have despatched it to the recycling sack. Meanwhile, my son picked it up and leafed through it. 'Mum,' he said, 'they've got Oman in here!'

I looked. The Chedi was offering three (yes, just three) nights bed and breakfast for an all-in price of £599 whilst I could travel to the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah for three nights B&B for £499. Placed immediately above these offers were advertisements for two five star hotels in Egypt. I could go to Luxor for seven nights B&B for £549 or Sharm el Sheikh for £459. I'm assuming that the flights were included.

I could have been tempted by the offers for Egypt which seemed good value, but I've been to Egypt.

I've been to Oman for that matter. I couldn't envisage travelling all that way for just 3 nights B&B. Mind you, the two-night safari packages in Kenya and South Africa were comparable in cost to the Oman offerings. I've been to Kenya and South Africa too in the past, at a fraction of the cost.

Blue skies, white beaches, stunning hotels, constant warmth and sun. That's what all these holidays offered, with an assumption that you wouldn't have to move from your resort. Perfect for the honeymoon couple perhaps, or the stressed senior manager wanting a place to wind down, but where he could still keep in touch with his company by Blackberry.

I guess that the safari packages are included if you want to do a bit more than lay by a hotel pool. Similarly, Oman may be there as an add-on to the hurly burly of shopping in Dubai.

The Tropical Sky website's optional extra tours suggested Muscat City and Desert Safari – a half day exploring the dunes in a 4 wheel drive as well as a fuller tour with overnight stop(s). You wouldn't have time to do much else in just three days.

Then I recalled an article by Jeremy Clarkson in The Times a few days ago. Jeremy Clarkson, it must be admitted, is the unashamed advocate of fast, powerful cars as Toys for Boys in BBC's Top Gear. Nevertheless, he is popular, and influential.

He was musing on what holiday destinations could tell us about the music preferences of the personalities who choose them. This little quote stuck right out at me:

Dubai is right out. It’s all very well having an indoor ski slope in the desert and guaranteed sunshine and lots of things to do in the empty quarter, but you cannot drink outside your hotel. And I’m sorry, but anyone who puts quad biking and wadi bashing above the need for a glass of something chilled is plainly out of their tiny minds.

. People of Clarkson's ilk are not going to be drawn merely by the promise of beautiful, unspoilt surroundings.

As for me, I'm rather tempted by a 10 day cruise around the Galapagos Islands where I would be able to see the 'living laboratory of evolution' as described by the tour company. The iguanas, the tortoises, the finches, the geology - it's a once in a lifetime experience. I'd have to cough up £5000 for that, although I could get away with £3000 for a land trip.

In the summer, the odds are that the weather will be warm, and it will be too hot to go south. How would I have felt as a tourist going to Oman for 3 days' relaxation in the sun during all that recent rain?