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| Participants at the workshop on tourism and business investments yesterday |
Participants at a workshop on Meetings, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition (MICE) organised by the Qatar Tourism Authority for some 40 top tourism experts have observed that Qatar is one of the safest countries in the world where tourism and business investments can thrive without hindrance.
The focus of the workshop held in partnership with Germany’s biggest tourism industry publication, Fvw, was to showcase Qatar and all its attractions, as well as highlight the tourism and hospitality infrastructure in the
country.
Most of the speakers acknowledged Qatar’s peaceful ambience as the spirit for investment to succeed while noting that its ability to host international sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup would further boost its reputation among leisure investors.
“Qatar’s state-of-the-art infrastructure for events, varieties of investment possibilities and its interstate road network as well as its modern and liberal Arab statehood, are making it to become a choice destination in Germany,” Anja Straub, an executive at German-based Hogg Robinson, observed.
She noted that an international sporting event like the FIFA World Cup 2022 is key to success for the
country.
“Germany is still reaping from the impact of the FIFA World Cup held in 2006 as it helped sustain our economy apart from serving as a promotion for the country and its people. So, I believe all these will help add more fillip to Qatar’s image as well,” she added.
Straub pointed out that some 55% of travellers to Qatar are on business due to its world-class event destinations and investments of around $17bn pumped into tourism infrastructure.
Other speakers suggested the need for the country to combine with other countries in the region to make a multi-centre destination in order to be more attractive to business and leisure tourists.
“Despite being the transit hub of over 51 flights and a great number of passengers travelling through it daily, Qatar will need to woo tourists by connecting to other neighbouring countries such as Oman to be more appealing for visitors to stay beyond their airport stopovers,” Julia, a German industry expert suggested.
“Qatar has ranked so well on the Global Peace Index (GPI 2011) being 12th above Germany that ranked 15th...it is a relatively secured country and safe for tourists. And with its good number of MICE hotels both four- and five-stars, traditional souqs and places like Katara, Sealine beach, deserts and other attractions, it will still need other countries like Oman to be more attractive to guests to visit,” she noted.
Julia suggested that tour operators can combine Qatar, Oman and or Indonesia so that tourists will have different experiences during their holidays.
“In two-three centres destination package, tourists can explore the old Arabian souq in Qatar and also drive through a rent-a-car service in Oman to enjoy its ambience. They can enjoy many benefits in this kind of arrangement exploring different landscapes - the desert, rice fields in Bali as well as different cultures - Arabic and Indonesian culture like Hinduism,” she said.
QTA Promotions and Organising Abroad Exhibitions head Soha Moussa said that the authority will soon organised a roadshow in Germany to ride on the impact already created by the workshop.