By Updesh Kapur/Doha
News this week that Qatar will soon join the world’s aerial club for helicopter tours of its capital city is a great boost for the country’s tourism industry.
Flying tours in and around Doha to see firsthand the dramatic transformation of a city showcasing its cultural and modern architecture will take off on December 19.
Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has added helicopter tourism to its portfolio of product offerings through a new project called Samana which means “our skies”. Gulf Helicopters will provide the flights with sales and marketing support from local travel company Regency.
Three tours each day on Fridays and Saturdays will take off for 35-minute aerial trips that will cover the iconic Pearl Qatar development, West Bay Lagoon, Katara Cultural Village, as well as sights further inland. The venture could expand to weekday trips.
The only glimpse so far of the rapidly changing Doha skyline hundreds of feet from ground level has been on scheduled flights or business jets coming into land at Hamad International Airport or taking-off.
Cities around the world have used helicopter tours to boost their buoyant tourism industries and provide a different perspective to what one sees on foot.
From New York’s most iconic sights in Downtown Manhattan; Los Angeles with its infamous Hollywood sign and celebrity homes; sweeping panoramic trips through the Grand Canyon and along the Colorado River; Hong Kong’s bustling skyline; tours over the ever-popular Sydney Opera House; and even heli hiking in New Zealand flying in a helicopter to a mountain top before hitting the ski slopes for the descent down – helicopter tourism is big business.
From Qatar’s neighbour Dubai, its man-made islands, vibrant business district and towering Burj Khalifa; the beauty and aura of the French capital Paris; the contrasting London skyline fusing modern and traditional architecture with spectacular heli views along the River Thames; the blade-running trips through the Norwegian fjords; the Canadian side of Niagara Falls; and aerial trips at ports of call by cruise lines – the list is endless.
Helicopters too are a great way to cover large areas of natural landscapes such as Hawaii, one of the most geologically active places on earth. Mount Kilauea is an active volcano that has been erupting continuously for more than two decades. Views of lava, black volcanic beaches together with chiselled cliffs and rainforests make for a fascinating adventure of a lifetime.
Air travel, once seen as glamorous, has become mundane, just as road and rail. But the helicopter is one mode of transport that has managed to retain its mystique It remains a premium-priced luxury form of transport, but it usually goes beyond simply getting from A to B.
Helicopters are ideal for sightseeing thanks to their ability to hover and travel at speed and take in breathtaking views.
The complexity of a city’s changing landscape is best seen from the air to really appreciate what has spruced up in such a short few years. A surreal feeling, but a helicopter ride provides a very different perspective to the ground experience. A fascinating glimpse of everyday life at height in context with the surrounding area that is as stunning with its panoramic environment.
Specialist operators are tasked with putting together helicopter tours that run into hundreds of dollars a trip for anything from a 12-minute ride to a one-hour journey. Not a cheap offering but certainly an exciting one which caters to tourists looking for a bit of adventure and to business travellers looking for time out for some rest and relaxation during a working trip.
Though early days, products such as Doha’s Samana project aim to help shift the ratio of visitors seeking leisure tourism in Qatar from currently 27% to 60% of all inbound guests by 2030.
GCC nationals make up the lion’s share of all arrivals into Qatar. According to tourism statistics, visitor arrivals to Qatar grew by eight% in the first half of 2014 reaching 1.42mn compared with the same six-month period in 2013. Of these, more than half a million were GCC nationals, representing 38% of the total.
Qatar hopes to attract around sevenmillion tourists a year by 2030 – up from the estimated figure of 2.8mn by the end of 2014. Under the National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030, Qatar is seeking to become a hub for cultural tourism in the Middle East, highlighting its roots and heritage through a number of initiatives set out in the strategy.
With the Doha skyline continuing its dramatic change in the business district and new tourism products set to be added in the coming years, the tourism appeal will only widen.
By the end of the year, the Anantara Doha Island Resort and Spa on Banana Island, a 20 minute boat ride from Doha, is set to open with the 140-unit property including a helipad that too will offer tour opportunities to and from the resort.
There’s already talk of Qatar becoming the third country in the Middle East to stage a Formula 1 Grand Prix race and join the elite global club of hosts by 2017. If this becomes a reality, the level of interest in the country as a tourism destination will surely increase, just like the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
As the helicopter tours develop, so too will the number of landmarks related to the above-mentioned projects which could become a permanent feature of itineraries.
While Qatar embarks on its new tourism adventure, New York which has enjoyed a successful helicopter tourism industry for years, is taking a battering from anti-helicopter groups.
Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio sat down with members of a New York and New Jersey delegation advocating for residents who want to ban helicopter tours in New York and on the Hudson River.
Mayors and residents of Hudson County waterfront municipalities announced a high level meeting will take place this week with the US Federal Aviation Administration – the body charged with aircraft safety – to request tourist helicopters be banned from their areas.
The Stop the Chopper NYNJ (New York New Jersey) movement is gathering momentum due to concerns of noise as a result of an “alarming” growth in the number of helicopter movements.
Delia von Neuschtaz, who co-founded Stop the Chop, lives in Battery Park City on the southern tip of Manhattan, five minutes from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport and claims that on a clear day a helicopter passes by every two minutes. Her group is pressing for closure of the heliport.
According to von Neuschatz, the helicopter tour industry has little to no impact on the New York City economy, saying that roughly 300 jobs the industry creates are in the neighbouring state of New Jersey, as helicopter companies store all their aircraft in a facility across the Hudson River.
For tourists, a 25-minute ride takes in all the sights of Manhattan up the East River and down the Hudson with spectacular views of skyscrapers and iconic landmarks including the Empire State Building, the new World Trade Centre, Yankee Stadium and George Washington Bridge. Trips typically take between 12 to 20 minutes and cost between $175 and $225 per passenger.
The noise, though temporary for visitors, is part of life for those in New Jersey and New York who live along the Hudson River flight path. Complaining of rattling apartment walls every time rotor blades hover above, they say enough is enough.
As many as 200 daily helicopter trips by different operators over a period of 10 hours generate about $33mn a year in tourism spending in New York, but residents argue no amount of revenue is worth enduring the noisy choppers.
“Sitting outside at a restaurant, you have to stop your conversation every five seconds to be heard,” said von Neuschatz, who founded the 2,000-member group Stop the Chop NYNJ.
Meanwhile, Helicopters Matter, a coalition advocating against helicopter air traffic regulation, claims only 13 complaints over noise levels were filed against New York City helicopter traffic this summer which is perceived a low figure.
Helicopters Matter says: “Beyond our own jobs, helicopter tours generate tens of millions of dollars for the region that go towards public services benefiting millions of residents, including those along the Hudson River.”
New York City’s Mayor is under pressure on the subject. The city owns the principle Downtown Manhattan Heliport and has the authority to terminate contracts with helicopter operators at any time.
The City however is not keen to lose a money-spinner that brings in the tourism dollars, yet is evaluating the issue and working with officials and community groups to find the right solution.
Opposition to helicopter tourism has come up in tourist destinations such as Los Angeles, London and Hawaii, but Stop the Chop says the noise in the New York City area is the most constant and affects at least 2mn residents – far more than anywhere else.
Helicopters are a fabric of New York life. The city’s tourism industry has much to lose by banning helicopter tourism.
Doha, on the other hand, has much to gain as it looks forward to welcoming the newest addition to its tourism portfolio with open arms.
♦ Updesh Kapur is a PR & communications professional, columnist, aviation, hospitality and travel analyst, social and entertainment writer. He can be followed on twitter @updeshkapur
