Pearl of the Gulf

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Qatar's Equestrian Club in Shahaniya will interest animal-loving clients.

The report also states that tourism is set to "expand" and that the government will seek to almost double visitor numbers from the 754,000 in 2006 to 1.4 million by the end of 2008.

One facet of Qatar's tourism strategy is to host major sporting events like the 2006 Asian Games and to bid for the 2018 FIFA football World Cup.

So while the destination isn't drowning in tourists just yet, agents should be aware that this destination is serious about expanding its tourism intake.

Business is best

The corporate travel sector currently accounts for the vast majority of all travel to Qatar.

This has been driven by the national carrier Qatar Airways founded in 1993, which made Doha an important stopover for Middle East-bound business travellers.

The Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) recently decided to acknowledge the importance of the business events sector in the Gulf and became the Qatar Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (QTEA) in order to grow awareness of Qatar's role in this field.

"From a tourism perspective, the driving sector in Qatar is the corporate/business sector; 95% of the visitors to Qatar come because they are doing business," explains QTEA chairman Ahmed Al Nuaimi.

"Because the focus of Qatar is to further develop the meetings, conventions and exhibitions sector, it made sense to create the QTEA. The leisure element is mainly generated in conjunction with the business travel, or sometimes as a stop-over to another destination."

QTEA is now responsible for managing the temporary Doha Exhibitions Centre, which opened in February and the Doha Convention Centre, which is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2010.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Doha's better parts
Posted by andy, Doha, Qatar on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 10:01 UAE time


Doha's main attractions are the beautiful Corniche and the Old Souk (Souk Waqif). The rest of the city isn't particularly charming, but some parts have some character of their own. I still prefer Doha to characterless Manama and soul-less Abu Dhabi.

Dullha
Posted by Cutter, Doha, Qatar on Sunday 17 August 2008 at 10:37 UAE time


Doha (or as th expats call it "Dullha") has absolutely no attractions for a tourist that can't be found better elsewhere. The whole country has no atmosphere. Even the new West Bay business district is horrible, the worst business district I've seen anywhere. It's a cluster of office towers with absolutely no green space or restaurants, shops or cafe's. The only restaurants are in the 5 star hotels. Again, zero atmosphere. Dullha is a place to work and that's it.
Lonely Planet has labelled Doha as "Possibly the most boring place on the planet", and I agree after having lived here for the last 3 years.

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