The Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) won the “Best Arab Government Tourism Authority 2015 Award” due to the significant influx of tourist into the country.
Granted by the Arab Centre for Tourist Media, the award is based on official Arab studies and statistics estimating tourist flow to Qatar at 27% - the highest in the region.
Hussain al-Mannai, chairman of the Arab Centre for Tourism Media, made the announcement at a press conference held in Amman, Jordan, under the patronage of the Jordanian tourism minister. He also announced 20 other winners of the Arab tourism awards for 2015.
“We share this achievement with the State of Qatar represented by HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of  Interior for the support granted to the tourism sector,” said QTA chairman Issa bin Mohamed al-Mohannadi. “We would also like to share the achievement with the hospitable people of Qatar.”
Al-Mohannadi noted that the new award is the outcome of their commitment to the National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030, which is an integrated long-term plan to support and develop the tourism sector through a series of effective programmes and projects.  
Qatar welcomed more than 2.8mn visitors from the region and the rest of the world in 2014, representing 8.2% growth over 2013.
Since 2009, international visits to Qatar have increased by 75% with an average annual growth rate of 13.8%.
Qatar managed to attract visitors from several key markets, notably other GCC countries, from where 40% of the visitors came in 2014.
Some 28% of the visitors originated from various parts of Asia and Oceania while 15% came from Europe.
Visits from various regions in the world have grown substantially over the past five years with Asian and GCC visitor markets expanding by 107% and 102% respectively since 2009. Visits from Europe have also surged 82% over the past five years.
This year’s Arab tourism award witnessed strong competition as a jury of academics and media experts evaluated the nominated achievements selecting the winners based on strict standards and conditions.
A group of Arab media leaders established the Arab Centre for Tourist Media in Cairo in 2007 aimed at encouraging inter-Arab tourism and promoting Arab tourist attractions.
The centre launched the awards, known as the “Arab Media Tourism Oscars” in 2008, with the participation of five Arab countries.
The awards aim to highlight the tourism press in the Arab world, particularly after officials in charge of the centre noticed a lack of incentives and motivation for this type of media, compared to sports media, for example.
The centre sent several ‘media caravans’ to many Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and the UAE to promote their tourist attractions.
The 2015 award winners were announced as part of the Arab tourism ‘media caravan’ dispatched to Jordan, which included 22 journalists from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. The visit to Jordan was aimed at highlighting the country’s tourist attractions and landmarks.

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