Qatar’s hospitality sector has ranked at the top of GCC destinations in the “Guest Experience in the Middle East (ME) report,” which was released by hospitality and travel data providers (Olery).
The report, released at the Arabian Travel Market’s exhibition in Dubai, showed that Qatar ranked third on the overall ranking in the Middle East with 2.83% increase in the guest experience index since the last report.
The report monitored and analysed more than 2.5mn online guest reviews over the past 12 months (April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017) from popular travel sites.
The index measures overall guest satisfaction by analysing different aspects of their tourist accommodation experience, including service, location, cleanliness, room quality, and value for money.
In Qatar, hotel room quality and cleanliness were highly rated, 87.6 and 88.9 respectively, placing the country in the second rank at the regional level in these categories.
According to the ‘guest type’ category, Qatar’s tourist accommodation has been widely praised among business travellers, couples, and groups of friends.
Qatar Tourism Authority’s (QTA) Chief Tourism Development Officer Hassan al-Ibrahim said that this report reflects the continuing impact of the Hotel Grading and Classification System, which was launched in January 2016 that aims at raising the standards of the hospitality sector in the country.
He added that QTA is working with its hospitality partners to maintain Qatar’s reputation in the hospitality sector by making the most stringent classifications and inspection visits, expressing delight to see the fruits of the efforts in this report, which shows that hotels in Qatar take guest experience into account to improve their services.
This Hotel Grading and Classification System was released early 2016 after extensive consultation with local and international tourism experts and hoteliers.
Hotels’ evaluation has for the first time included the ability of the hotel to reflect the Qatari culture in its services, which will enhance Qatar’s distinctive status and cultural offerings as a tourist destination.
Hotels are also rated based on the steps they take to maintain sustainability, easy accessibility, and guest evaluation for their experience.
During 2016, all four and five star hotels were inspected, where hotels are currently implementing the required changes to maintain their classification.
In 2017, the tourism authority will focus on the three, two and one stars hotels.
QTA is leading a Qatari delegation of 38 representatives of the tourism sector in Qatar from hotels, participating in the Arabian Travel Market’s exhibition.
The Qatar delegation is showcasing the country’s unique tourism offerings, including top quality luxury accommodation, cultural attractions, family entertainment, festivals and events, as well as great shopping, dining and other leisure activities.
Gulf Times
April 26
