This year’s edition of Summer Entertainment City (SEC 2019) has witnessed an increase in the number of local vendors, especially in food-related businesses, of which, 95% are owned by Qatari entrepreneurs, an official of QSports has said.
According to media manager Qazi Yousri, of the total 46 food vendors, 21 are kiosks or food carts distributed across Halls 1 to 5 of the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC) where SEC 2019 is being held until July 13.
“There was huge increase in the number of participating Qatari food stall owners this year compared to the previous edition of the Summer Entertainment City. In terms of food vendors booking, we really got a tremendous response from the local entrepreneurs this year,” Yousri told Gulf Times.
The QSports official pointed out that the food stalls are mostly startups, coffee shops, and snack bars. The SEC is seen by many Qatari entrepreneurs as a platform to test their products in the local market, he said, adding that the SEC’s food court area has a capacity of more than 300 people at a time.
Aside from food stalls, the SEC also allotted a large venue for retail vendors selling various products, such as clothes, spices, perfumes, oud, abayas, jewellery, cosmetics, small furniture, and lamps, among many others. “The number of local retail vendors also increased compared to last year’s event, which means that this annual activity is getting more popular among Qatari business owners.
Perhaps, from the previous editions, they saw a big potential in the SEC in terms of promoting and growing their businesses, as well as increasing their market presence.
“This latest edition of SEC offers many new additions to the retail shops, including furniture, ceramics, handmade carpets from Iran, kitchenware, and luxury lamps. We received great feedback from our vendors and it’s a pleasure to have all of them on board,” he said.
Yousri explained that 40% of the retail shops are also owned by Qataris, while the rest of the shops are vendors representing 25 different countries, including India, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Serbia, Turkey, Kuwait, South Korea, and Thailand, among others.
“Not only can visitors enjoy a wide range of food items, but the retail shops also offer a huge diversity of products and the services,” Yousri emphasised.
In collaboration with Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC), QSports organised SEC 2019 to offer many family-oriented activities during the summer season.
These include amusement rides, skills games, trampoline park, kids’ driving school, giant blocks park, a 1,000sq m ocean ball soft play area, Qatar’s first ‘Inflata Park’ spread over 1,200sq m, the world’s “largest” bounce castle, a 1,200sq m skate park, synthetic ice skating, and a spider climbing tower.
Also, a 6,000sq m area is dedicated for gaming and Virtual Reality (VR), featuring some of the world’s most advanced VR simulators, gaming stations, and themed gaming areas.
Unique brands by Qatari startup owners have a large following in the local market.
