Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA)'s international marketing strategists and members of the tourism sector gathered in Doha recently to present plans of leveraging upcoming events in the country, aimed at expanding the presence of Qatar’s destination brand globally.
The event, held as part of QTA’s first quarterly Tourism Marketing Framework Summit for 2018, is in line with the sector’s focus on diversifying visitor source markets and promoting Qatar’s unique tourism offering internationally.
Representatives of QTA’s global offices, along with members of the local tourism industry, discussed ways on how to increase the impact of international promotion campaigns that echo Qatar’s message of welcoming the world.
“As the majority of tourists make their travel plans for the year ahead in the first quarter, we understand that it is critical that our partners have the tools and information they need to intensify their efforts to attract visitors to Qatar,” QTA’s chief marketing and promotion officer Rashed al-Qurese said.
“Our quarterly summits allow stakeholders locally and internationally to stay abreast of the destination’s developments, align and synergise their efforts for the months ahead,” he noted.
“We are particularly looking forward to kicking off our 2018 plans in the Chinese market now that we have gained Approved Destination Status and opened offices there,” al-Qurese added. “Plans to establish our presence in other major source markets in Asia are also well underway.”
Besides China, India and Russia are among the more than 80 countries whose nationals have been granted a visa waiver by Qatar. Plans to establish a presence in Russia in 2018 are well under way.
For example, the VisitQatar website now features a Russian language option to cater to potential visitors from the country.
Attendees at the summit also discussed Qatar’s representation at upcoming global tourism trade shows, which include ITB Berlin and Seatrade Cruise Global in March.
Marketing Qatar internationally entails close collaboration between public and private sector partners, including hotels, tourism establishments and the national airline – Qatar Airways.
Gulf Times
01/02/2018
