Qatar National Convention Center on course
Forty percent of the $660m Qatar National Convention Center is expected to be completed by the end of this year with the final phase ready to go by end-2010.
Located in Education City, it will feature a tree-like façade symbolising the Sidra tree. The tree feature is proving to be a difficult proposition for the builders but nevertheless, it will be done.
Qatar has chosen a different route to attracting tourists, opting to bypass leisure visitors and concentrating on conventions, sporting events and major meetings, which bring in high-spending delegates. Paul D' Arcy, General Manager of the Center, told The Peninsula yesterday: "The conventions business is very competitive with several other centres having come up in the region and worldwide.
With the Convention Center, Qatar can benefit not just through prestige but economic impact as well. Delegates tend to spend far more than leisure visitors."
This would naturally give a boost to the hotel and restaurants sector here, considering many delegates come here on company expense accounts.
Qatar is busy lining up potential conventions for the new center and D'Arcy said: "We are working on 55 `hot leads'. The bidding to land a convention is a very competitive process, much like for the Olympics.
Conventions are usually organised by associations which follow a rotational pattern." So, should an event be held in Europe one year the rotation could mean an Asian venue would follow next, for example.
The next Universal Postal Union meeting is slated to be held here in 2012. The Convention Center has also confirmed the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) is to be held here in 2011.
"Qatar Petroleum (QP) and government officials attended the last WPC meeting in Madrid and sold Doha as the venue for the next meeting, successfully as it turns out.
As with the Olympics or FIFA World Cup, representatives visit the next host country to ensure facilities like hotels and transportation are up to snuff, before a convention can be held.
"Even to get 20 percent of the 55 `hot leads' would be an achievement. We certainly want to make the centre a convention destination for the world. But there is heavy competition in the region, with centres having come up in Abu Dhabi and Dubai while Bahrain is also building a facility," said D'Arcy.
Qatar, he said, is using its traditions to help generate convention business. "There are still places like the souq here while if in Dubai, you could be in any city in the world," he said.
The Qatar National Convention Center will feature 57 meeting rooms and 40,000 sq. m of exhibition space. It will have a multi-purpose hall with seating for 4,000 and a 2,500 seat tiered auditorium, a 500-seat theatre and banquet seating for 4,000.
The Centre, he said, could have multiple uses. Seeing conventions are not held every day of the week, it could also play host to West End theatrical productions and symphonies.
The venue is managed by AEG Ogden, a joint venture between Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) of the US and Ogden of Australia. AEG owns and manages venues like London's O2 Arena, the Staples Centre in Los Angeles and Sydney's Acer Arena among several other big-name venues.
It also organises and promotes concerts and tours of acts like Justin Timberlake and Celine Dion. "Managing such venues and the prospect of bringing acts like Timberlake and Dion are plus points for us," said D'Arcy. AEG Ogden's management contract with the Convention Centre is for five years from the official opening.
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