First 10 months saw more than 23,000 Turkish visitors, an 11% increase from the same period last year
Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has launched its ‘Tawash’ online destination training programme in Turkish, increasing the number of available languages to six, it was announced.
This move comes as a QTA forges ahead with its strategy to diversify the country’s tourism source markets and empower an ever-growing team of international travel professionals to promote and sell Qatar as a tourist destination in key markets around the world.
According to QTA, the online destination training programme provides global tour operators and travel agents with the in-depth knowledge of Qatar they need to market the destination authoritatively and persuasively to their clients.
Besides Turkish, Tawash is also available in English, Arabic, French, German and Italian.
“This initiative is designed to complement QTA’s trade-oriented and awareness building activities in key targeted regional and international markets,” QTA’s chief executive marketing and promotions officer Rashed al-Qurese said.
He noted that the training course serves to create a team of accredited destination experts to give Qatar extra reach and enhance QTA’s efforts at the grassroots level.
“It is clear that a growing number of international agents recognise Qatar’s tourism potential and are very keen to establish themselves as accredited specialists. Once they complete the course, they will qualify for great incentives offered and more importantly, become valuable allies in promoting the destination to their clients,” Al-Qurese added.
In the first 10 months of this year, Qatar welcomed more than 23,000 Turkish visitors, representing an 11% increase from the same period last year.
The introduction of Tawash in Turkish provides a boost to the promotional activities of QTA’s representative office in Istanbul and capitalises on Turkish travellers’ ability to travel to Qatar visa-free.
Tawash which means ‘pearl merchant’ in Qatari dialect, is reminiscent of Qatar’s rich pearl trading history which in addition to serving as a main source of livelihood before the modern discovery of oil and gas, was a bridge for cultural exchange for generations of Qataris.
The destination training programme comprises of five modules, each focusing on a particular aspect of Qatar’s tourism offering. Conducted entirely online, the programme offers participants flexibility to suit their individual schedules and complete each module’s test at their own pace.
