Qatar is targeting a 400 percent rise in hotel capacity by 2012 with the addition of a whopping $17bn in investment over the next five years, according to the Qatar Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (QTEA). The plan includes construction of luxury hotels, resorts and other leisure facilities, with a total of up to 29,000 luxury rooms by 2012. A total of 80,000 hotel rooms in various ranges will be available by 2016. “QTEA has a very practical strategy targeting an increase of 20 percent of new travellers in the next five years,” said a statement issued yesterday. This strategy would be achieved by attracting five percent of passengers travelling through the Doha International Airport and asking them to stay an extra 48 hours in the country past their initial scheduled time. The total number of travellers would thus go up to 2.5 million, said the statement. http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=January2009&file=Local_News2009011225219.xml

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