Ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the hospitality and tourism sector are expected to further stimulate economic activities and open new windows of opportunities to bolster the market, which is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.1% between 2019 and 2022 to reach $1.4bn.
This was revealed on the occasion of Hospitality Qatar 2021, which was digitally inaugurated by Ministry of Commerce and Industry Undersecretary Sultan bin Rashid al-Khater in the presence of Qatar Tourism Chairman and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive HE Akbar al-Baker; Italian ambassador Alessandro Prunas; Turkish ambassador Dr Mustafa Goksu; IFP Qatar general manager Haider Mshaimesh.
Held in strategic partnership with Qatar Tourism until November 11 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC), the sixth edition of Hospitality Qatar gathered more than 170 HORECA (hotel, restaurant, café), tourism and F&B suppliers, and service providers from more than 30 countries, as well as investors and industry leaders in Qatar to explore potential investment opportunities in the Qatari hospitality and tourism market.
Mohamed al-Mahmeed, head of Tourism Investment Promotion Section at Qatar Tourism, officially opened the first day with a keynote speech addressing Qatar’s tourism and hospitality sector’s readiness to welcome fans for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and highlighted new products and services catering to visitors.
Denisa Spinkova, leading service excellence at Qatar Tourism, provided an overview of Qatar Tourism’s strategy from its approach to increasing visitor arrivals and spending, as well as infrastructure developments, particularly in hospitality. In addition, Spinkova provided an overview of the country’s new promotional campaign, and its execution across platforms.
Monday’s opening kicked off with the ‘Countdown Begins’ conference, a multi-themed conference that focuses on the tourism, hospitality, and F&B sectors, and serves as a platform for industry key players and policymakers to exchange new insights and discuss recent developments in the industry.
Further, the conference’s opening sessions featured presentations and discussions on significant industry topics including, ‘The Experience Starts from your Home Country: An Unforgettable Travel’ by Qatar Airways, ‘Hamad International Airport Strategy to Increase Customer Capacity’ by HIA, and ‘Integrating Brand Standards within the Local Context for Exceptional Design’ by Katara Hospitality.
The Certified Training Programme is back to provide industry professionals with the necessary training and knowledge for free. The first day also witnessed the start of the barista training sponsored and organised by Corona International Company. Café workers in Doha will enjoy free training in the first two days with an international barista competition to be held in the remaining days.
The ‘Destination Pavilion’ sponsored by Qatar Airways is also open to visitors and participants. Other activities during the four-day event include live cooking shows, Qatar Restaurant’s Choice Awards, Food Tech Talks by talabat, and the Food Safety and Qatar Clean trainings by Boecker.
Prunas said, “The hospitality market in Qatar is a major interest for Italian producers as reflected in the Italian pavilion, which is one of the biggest in the event.”
Christoph Hodapp from Qatar Tourism said, “Trade exhibitions like this support sector development by introducing international expertise and showcasing our business events ecosystem. As an important subsector of tourism, it helps drive awareness and investment; at Qatar Tourism, we are very glad to extend our support to MICE organisers and operators.”
Hospitality Qatar 2021 seeks to mirror the success of its previous edition, which has recorded a total of more than 11,000 visitors, said Mshaimesh.
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