Qatar Airways has been named the best emerging airline on social media for 2013 by leading aviation marketing consultancy, SimpliFlying.
Qatar Airways was nominated and then named overall winner in the Best Emerging Airline/Airport on Social Media category as part of the 4th Annual SympliFlying Awards, held in Amsterdam recently.
The event took place in conjunction with the EyeforTravel Online Marketing, Mobile & Social Media in Travel Europe 2013 conference.
Led by SimpliFlying, an aviation marketing strategy firm, the awards process consisted of public voting and judging by a panel of thought leaders in the travel marketing space.
The judges for SimpliFlying Awards 2013 included Raymond Kollau, CEO of Airlinetrends.com; Robert Patterson, vice-president of Content and Social Strategy at MMGY Global; and Rosie Akenhead, business manager at Yelp.com.
Launched in 2010, the Annual SimpliFlying Awards have become the authoritative voice of the best social media practices by airlines and airports.
“Qatar Airways is certainly top in the league when it comes to social media,” said SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam. “They have built a huge following on social media in the last couple of years with engaging campaigns like Tweet-a-meet and partnerships like those with FC Barcelona and premium hotels in exotic locales. Their social media campaigns are well thought out and seek to achieve multiple benefits for the airline each time. Qatar Airways is certainly staying ahead of the competition by thinking differently about aviation marketing.”
Qatar Airways has been quick to respond to the opportunities presented through the use of social media platforms by engaging with the connected traveller. It uses 14 social media outlets to assist, inform, and engage its travellers.
Qatar Airways is participating in the ongoing 8th Sponsorship and Internship Career Forum at the College of Business and Economics Building, Qatar University (QU).
Fifty major government and private organisations are participating in the event, which offers Qatari students the opportunity to receive training and sponsorship during their study years, followed by work opportunities with organisations participating in the event.
Qatar Airways has already welcomed a large number of students during the first days of the event, a majority of whom are young women seeking to join the scholarship programme in different fields.
“We are very proud of our continuous participation in the Sponsorship and Internship Career Forum. Qatar University is a strategic partner of the Nationalisation Department and we look forward this year to sponsoring young and talented Qatari students and offering them training opportunities,” said Dr Kholode al-Obaidli, Qatar Airways vice-president (Nationalisation).
“Qatar Airways has strived over the past few years to attract talented and ambitious young minds into the different fields required by the airline and will continue to do so in the future. Our efforts to invest in Qatari human capital come in support of Qatar National Vision 2030.”
To apply for the Qatar Airways National Scholarship Programme, QU students have to meet the following criteria: be a Qatari national, complete 30 credit hours, have a GPA of 2.5 and above, their major must be in English, should not be older than 22 years old and must clear the interview.
The Qatar Airways scholarship programme offers 23 different degree majors, including Marketing, Media Relations, Business Management, International Affairs, Accounting, Finance, Law, IT and Mechanical Engineering, in addition to many other majors that qualify Qatari students to work for the airline.
