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Qatar destination campaigns runs till July 5th throughout the region
Doha, Qatar. Tuesday 18th June, 2013: After the big success for last year’s “ Eyes on Qatar” festivals, and with a refreshed identity and enhanced entertainment offerings, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has announced the launch of the “Eid Festivals”. The announcement was made during a press conference attended by QTA’s Chairman Mr. Issa Bin Mohammed Al Muhannadi, QTA delegations, as well as a large number of journalists from the local media.
The “Eid Festivals” will revolve around a family-friendly hub of edutainment activities, world-class shows and exciting international performances taking place throughout Doha and Al Khor.
All the malls in Qatar will be part of the festival celebrations, where the visitors will enjoy the activities running in these malls while they are enjoying their shopping.
QTA has extended the celebrations paths to reach The Pearl, where the children can enjoy the face painting and the magic balloon. The Lusail International Circuit for Shooting, Racing Club, and Equestrian Club will open to visitors to enjoy the celebrations.
For the first time, QTA will arrange for activities during the “Eid Festivals” to take place at Al Shaqqab, were air sports are being organized by Qatar Air Sports Committee (QASC), and air touring in Helicopters in collaboration with Gulf Helicopters. There will also be visits to Mohamad bin Abdul Wahhab mosque being a master architectural piece and a cultural center, as well as field trips to Al Maha Sanctuary and the Sheikh Faysal Al Thani museum.
Cultural and heritage activities will be part of the festivals, as QTA organized with all related parties such as the Private Engineering Office , Souq Waqif, Katara, The Ministry of Culture and Heritage and Sawat Al Rayyan a specific program to satisfy both the resident and visitor in the regard.
“There is now much more to see and do in Qatar than ever before,” said Mr. Issa Al Muhanadi, QTA’s Chairman. “It is our task at Qatar Tourism Authority to offer residents and tourists alike a wide range of events and attractions, in addition to positioning Qatar as a world class tourism hub for business, leisure, culture, education and sport. This will be followed by additional stages to execute the national strategy 2030 related to tourism, and thus implement such in QTA’s new strategy to develop the tourism industry, and encourage the workforce in fuelling the engine of national tourism. We will aim to promote Qatar as the destination for family and leisure with emphasis on engaging with residents and the region as a whole, as well as to base a platform for future plans to develop this strategy.”
QTA will later announce the detailed program that will accompany the celebrations so that the residents and visitors will have a chance to plan their holidays accordingly.
The “Eid Festivals” will be announced throughout a campaign to include all media as well as internet and social media. The aim behind this is to focus on QTA’s role in promoting Qatar as the destination for family and leisure with emphasis on engaging with residents and the region as a whole.
Mr. Abdullah Al Badr, Director of Tourism at QTA said, “What makes this year “Eid Festivals” special, is the participation of the private sector. This is implemented in promoting Qatar as the leader in the tourism sector in the region. This year the private companies have participated in the celebrations by organizing several activities, of which involve Kayaking/Canoeeing, Wakeboarding, Sailing Lesson Tour, Parasailing Tour, Scuba Diving Tour and Sky Diving Tour.”
Organizing the “Eid Festival” is continuity for QTA’s plan to attract more tourists to Qatar, specially the tourists from the Gulf region. For this, QTA has brought, and for the first time in the region, the successful “Disney on Ice, 100 year of Magic. Also QTA has recently organized the international “Cirque Du Soliel” and the second edition for the WWE in Qatar.
This year, QTA has worked on developing the Food Festival in its third edition where Qatar Airways has participated as a partner, and the flying restaurant was introduced for the first time in Qatar.
No need to mention the immense success of the Doha Watches and Jewelry Exhibition in its tenth edition and the motor show, as well as the Trade Exhibition and Hya Abaya, and many more.
The launch of the new website is aligned with QTA’s vision to provide the most up-to-date services and to promote Qatar as the world’s entertainment hub.
“This phase comes as a prelude to other stages to launch related sites and advanced applications on smartphones, that will help visitors and residents while browsing the tourism products in Qatar and the activities and events throughout the year. There will be a separation between the promotional sites and the official website of QTA, which be the official site to all people who are engaged in the tourism sector, as well as the only reference to build and paln and organize all issues related to tourism,” said Ms. Hind Zeinal, QTA’s Marketing and PR Director.
It is worth mentioning, that Qatar has witnessed an increase in the number of tourists visiting from the region. The figures show that the total number of tourists from GCC countries grew by 13% and that tourists from the world have increased up by 10% last year. 81 hotels in 2012 offered a total of 13,407 rooms, achieving 60% occupancy rates. During the first quarter of 2013, hotel occupancy has increased to 68% , even though there was an increase in the number of hotels in Doha. Comparing May this year with May last year, the occupancy of the hotel rooms has increased to be 15.5% , even though the hotel number increased to 87 hotel, as a total number.
QTA’s new strategy will be launched soon, and it will be the road map all the national tourism development that Qatar is witnessing these days.
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