The various international events in Doha have enhanced the hotel and hospitality sector in the country, especially after the short drop in demand that followed the huge demand during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, pointed out Marc Matar, Multi-Property General Manager, St Regis in an interview with Gulf Times.
"The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was an amazing period for the hospitality industry and placed the country on the world tourist map, attracting more global attention to Doha. However, after that period there was a drop in the numbers of tourists coming to the country and such situation continued over the summer months.
"Now, for the upcoming months, we are seeing a lot of events and activities and The St Regis Doha, St Regis Marsa Arabia Island, and St Regis Marsa Arabia and the Pearl are doing very well by securing big roles in these events. St Regis has secured exclusive hospitality partnerships with some of these events and host hotels," he noted.
"We are an exclusive partner with Formula 1 as the catering party for the concerts and their VIPs guest. The concert will host a good number of renewed Arab and World Stars. This will be going on during October 6, 7 and 8. We will also be the official catering partner for Qatar Stars League, and Qatar Masters Golf in addition to Ajjyal Film Festival, and World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024."
Matar explained this is expected to considerably increase the occupancy rates of St Regis, for instance during the Formula 1, occupancy rate is full. During the upcoming months occupancy rate is expected to be around 80-95%.
"The entities and authorities concerned are exerting great efforts to support the tourism and hospitality sectors in the country and enhance their role in the national economy. In particular, Qatar Tourism deputy chairperson Saad Ali al-Kharji has exerted great efforts over the past months that reflected greatly positive on the industry in the country.
"Besides, Qatar now enjoys highly sophisticated infrastructure with huge investment in the tourism sector, this covers all related facilities such as the airport, hotels, restaurants, modern network of roads, museums and various other things.
"Qatar is already considered a family friendly destination not only for tourists but for the expatriate families living here as well. People who come to live in Qatar love the place for many reasons, which include for instance the friendly environment, multi-culture society that accepts diversity, nice and welcoming Qataris, the safety and security prevailing in the country. Further, the price rates of hotels in Qatar are considered very reasonable when compared to the neighbouring countries. Still, there is a need for more economic flight options to encourage more tourists to come."
Matar noted that Qatar is considered a very good destination for GCC tourists thanks to the various events that take place in the country. St Regis enjoys top of the range facilities with ample swimming pools, very wide beach front, and special activities for kids. The hotel provide its guests with tailor-made services to cater to their specific needs, whether families, visitors of business people.
"We provide full resort for our guests with all the top end facilities in addition to a kids learning center. We provide our guests with a special service of a private butler service. We have 12 international restaurants that offer tastes and favours from various world cuisines, in addition to a world renowned brand spa (The Guerlain Spa). We also provide long stay residences with high level services starting from one bedroom apartment to three bedrooms," explained Matar.
" Alfardan Group have invested greatly in hotels, restaurants and wellness centres not only for investment benefit but also to support the overall tourism attractiveness of Qatar, and position it as a world class destination, competing with the biggest cities of the world," Matar noted.
Stressing the importance of hosting grand Indian weddings in Qatar, he said: "We are hosting five of these booked for the next five months, where the hotel will be fully booked by top families in India for at least three days for each wedding. These weddings are often grand events and they like to go for high end buildings with large capacity. Qatar has a great potential for attracting more of these events, which eventually positively impact all the local economic sectors in the country. "
Marc Matar
