With 'Embrace Doha,' shop the Qatari way at Souq Waqif

“The number of participants in every group is increasing,” she noted, citing the initiative’s lucid and yet simple method of educating people about Qatari culture and traditions.The Saturday shopping tours, which began on December 22 and to conclude on January 5, give individuals the opportunity to “shop the Qatari way” at Qatar’s historic and most popular tourist destinations.Shop Qatar renewed its partnership with Embrace Doha, a cultural consultancy company, to lead shopping tours at Souq Waqif. The company offers a diverse range of sessions and events aimed at enriching the cultural experiences of expatriates and visitors. Participants come from different expatriate communitiesThe two-hour tour starts from 4pm, and makes some stops along the way to sample and brief participants about fabric, spices, perfumes, traditional food, art and other items offered by outlets. Tour prices are QR200 per person (100 for children above 10).“If they want to order abaya or thobe or all of these traditional items such as perfumes or oils, we try to stop there and show people how we do (haggle) it as Qataris,” al-Shammari said. “We explain all these elements so it is more an entertaining and educational tour.”Qatari tour guides lead the two-hour tourAl-Shammari finds such initiative mutually beneficial for the organiser and participants saying that it helps satisfy one’s curiosity and enthusiasm to rediscover new things.“The people ask many questions, small things that an expatriate is interested in, and they also discover a number of similarities between our culture and theirs, and it makes me feel good about it because we share the same interests,” she added.Launched in the second edition of Shop Qatar, the shopping tours take festival-goers to what was described as “an authentic and culture-filled” stroll at Souq Waqif.The activities, led by Qataris as tour guides, include visiting and discovering the outlets which offer traditional clothes, an array of accessories, local handicrafts, incense, coffee and tea, dates, and artworks, among others.The shopping tours take festival-goers to “an authentic and culture-filled” stroll at one of Qatartarget="_blank"'>