NTC launches global campaign to promote destination Qatar

The National Tourism Council (NTC) launched Qatar’s first globally-coordinated promotion campaign in Doha on Monday aimed at positioning the country as an attractive destination, targeting 225mn international travellers across 15 markets.
HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister and NTC’s chairman of the board Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani led the inauguration of the tourism initiative at a special ceremony held at Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel, in the presence of diplomats, dignitaries and guests.
The campaign, ‘Qatar. Qurated for you’, focuses on providing unique and bespoke experiences for various types of visitors, which include ‘exclusivity thrivers’ (luxury travellers), wander lusters, ‘together again’ (families), ‘mostly’ business, value conscious, and ‘authentic immersers.’
“We look forward to bringing the spirit of Qurated to life, on people’s television screens, in airports around the world, and eventually here in Qatar where the world is welcomed to experience our authentic heritage and forward-looking vision,” NTC official Hassan al-Ibrahim said.
He noted that NTC reviewed and considered inputs from its public and private sector partners (local and international) in developing the campaign – designed to make Qatar ‘a top-of-mind’ destination through captivating visuals, offering glimpses of its authentic tourism offerings.
“This process is representative of our ethos as an industry, which is deeply rooted in the spirit of collaboration and partnership to deliver exceptional experiences at every touchpoint of the visitor’s journey,” al-Ibrahim stressed.
The campaign will be launched in all the markets in which NTC has representation (across the US, Europe, Asia and Russia): Moscow, Russia; Mumbai, India; Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu in China; Singapore, which also covers Malaysia; Istanbul, Turkey; London, UK (also Ireland); New York, US; Milan, Italy; Berlin (Germany, Austria and Switzerland); and Paris, France.
“Qurated is more than an advertising campaign: we’ve closely examined what this country offers as a destination to bring into sharp focus the essence of the Qatar experience, and how it can be tailored to each of our visitor segments,” NTC representative Rashed al-Qurese said.
He noted that NTC is partnering with some of the world's most popular travel platforms such as TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet “to deliver bespoke end-to-end experiences to our visitors while achieving true impact for the industry.”
Al-Qurese pointed out that such move will allow prospective visitors to curate their next visit to Qatar as they read about the destination, through to making their reservations and enjoying the country’s a wide range of cultural and natural attractions.
Besides running across print, television and digital platforms in eight different languages (Arabic, English, French, Italian, German, Russian, Turkish and Mandarin), ‘Qurated’ is also set to partner with global television networks such as CNN International, Al Jazeera Network, BeIN, Digiturk and Sky TV.
According to NTC, the launch of ‘Qurated’ comes at “an exciting period of growth and development” for Qatar's tourism sector. Just a few weeks earlier, Qatar Tourism Authority and the Permanent Committee for Conferences was converted to NTC.
The new governance structure set the stage for the implementation of key initiatives across the public and private sectors, which aims to develop solid tourism infrastructure and deliver exceptional visitor experiences.
Both the revised governance model and the global promotion campaign are critical components of the sector's newest strategy launched in 2017 (The Next Chapter of the National Tourism Sector Strategy), NTC noted.
Qatar’s revised visitor visa policies further complemented what NTC described as “foundational developments,” making the country as the most open country in the Middle East and the eighth most open in the world, based on the United Nation World Tourism Organisation’s recently updated visa openness rankings.