*Various initiatives by Qatar 'lead to strong visitor growth from Germany in 2018'

Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) is leading a delegation from Qatar, consisting of leading hotels, local tour operators and other tourism service providers, to the German capital for the world’s largest trade show — ITB Berlin.
The event will be held from Wednesday until March 10.
Spread over 222sqm, the Qatar pavilion at ITB Berlin will have representation from QNTC and its 20 co-exhibitors showcasing the country’s expanding tourism and hospitality options.
Among these are National Museum of Qatar, Qatar Rail, IAAF World Championships in Athletics 2019 and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy updating visitors about the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
"We saw a strong growth in visitor arrivals from Germany in 2018," Rashed al-Qurese from QNTC said in a press statement. "We also recently sealed a number of partnerships with leading German companies in the tourism sector, including Dertour Tour Operators and AIDA Cruises.
"With joint communications, co-marketing actions and familiarisation trips with these partners, along with our recently launched global destination campaign: Qatar – Qurated for you highlighting the destination’s bespoke tourism experiences, we expect this upward trend of visitor arrivals to continue.”
The delegation’s participation comes as part of QNTC’s efforts to shed light on Qatar’s unique authentic experiences to promote the country as a tourism destination among travel professionals and tourism industry leaders in Germany, the statement notes.
German-speaking countries are a key source market for Qatar with a record growth of 34% in 2018 receiving 78,858 visitors, compared to 58,930 visitors received the previous year, QNTC added.
Qatar offers a wide range of unique tourism experiences to diverse categories of German tourists, witnessing strong development in the country’s cruise tourism segment with German cruise ships AIDA and TUI Mein Schiff arriving to Doha Port in 2018.
The hosting of mass participation events such as the World Corporate Games in November this year, first time to be held in the Middle East, further supports the country’s goals for developing a vibrant sports and recreation tourism sub-sector, while tapping in business tourism opportunities.
The country’s national airline, Qatar Airways, now serving Hamad International Airport with 70 weekly flights from Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Zurich and Geneva, also offers comfortable access to Qatar and only recently increased frequency from Zurich and Vienna to its home hub, Doha.
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