“With the number of tourists to Qatar increasing in a big way, the Wain app is a very handy one for the tourists to understand about the day to day events and major tourist destinations in the country,” Dr Adnan Abu-Dayya, executive director and CEO, QMIC told Gulf Times.
“As the focus on tourism has increased in the recent years, we are exploring possibilities of providing the relevant information and better experience to the visitors. We expect that the tourists can be advised in advance about the app and they can have it on their smartphones for a refreshing experience to move across the country. We are also in discussion with the sport bodies to add current and upcoming sport events to the app,” explained Dr Abu-Dayya.
Wain is an intelligent map and location-based services application developed by QMIC. The app delivers useful map related services which includes real-time traffic information, smart navigation, dynamic maps, updated parking information, speed camera alerts, a rich collection of Points of Interest (PoI).
“Wain is your companion on the road, giving you Qatar’s most needed transportation and location services. We have also enhanced our smart navigation features and improved our POIs collection with more than 12,000. We have introduced an ‘Events’ section where you can find and attend local events, in addition to adding and sharing your own,” highlighted Dr Abu-Dayya.
“We want to make Wain the de facto platform in Qatar for information. Wain gives the information regarding restaurants, parking, real time traffic, and many more.We have a number of significant features on the app,” noted the official.
He observed that many people generally come to know of the events in the country very late or sometimes even after the events. “Wain gives you a list of the events as well as the location and time. Wain is a cloud based application and anybody can contribute to the events section. You can navigate it through a single click. It gives also the option to contribute to the events by adding the events to the list and integrate it with the calendar,” he maintained.
According to the QMIC CEO, there is a continuous updating of the app. “We add more maps and other facilities to the app as and when available. We have also added a number of parking facilities and the availability of the parking lots in each of the facilities. We plan to integrate more parking facilities into the app. The app also has most of the emergency contacts,” added Dr Abu-Dayya.
A screen shot of the Wain app
Wain, a mobile application, meaning 'where' in Arabic and launched by the Qatar Mobility Innovations Centre (QMIC), will enhance the tourist experience in a big way by providing accurate information about the happenings and major locations in the country.
