DOHA: The number of tourists visiting Qatar in the first five months of the year rose ten percent to 1.32m, putting the country on track to increase annual arrivals this year to well in excess of the 2014 total of 2.83m.
According to the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) Chief Marketing & Promotions Officer Rashed AlQurese, the numbers during the January-May period of 2015 stood at 1,316,831 visitors, an increase of 10 percent over the first five months of last year, with gains recorded for most major source markets.
A major highlight of 2015 has been the 20 percent growth in visitor numbers from the neighbouring GCC markets, with the strongest performance being a 31 percent increase from Saudi Arabia during the first five months of the year.
“This follows the establishment of QTA’s GCC representative office last year and reflects the various trade and consumer-centric joint promotions, the Qatar annual calendar of festivals, events and other initiatives launched to attract visitors,” said AlQurese.
He noted that the important European and Asian markets were also performing well, with overall increases of 4 percent and 7 percent respectively in the number of visitors to Qatar in the January-May period. Stand-out performers among markets covered by the QTA’s representative offices included France (up 11 percent) and Austria (up 13 percent).
AlQurese was addressing a meeting of top representatives of QTA’s Head Office and its international marketing network. The meeting was held in Doha yesterday to review progress and highlight key tourism promotion plans and priorities for the remainder of 2015. This quarterly marketing meeting brings together more than 60 private sector stakeholders from local hotels and other industry suppliers to meet personnel from QTA’s local head office and international representative offices in the UK, France, Germany, GCC and Southeast Asia.
“This meeting is important in ensuring that all parties involved in promoting Qatar are in harmony in understanding QTA’s vision, mission, values and marketing philosophy,” said AlQurese.
“It also ensures that our international representatives are fully updated on the latest developments and are familiar with newly opened hotels and other tourism related attractions. To be 100 percent effective, they need to be knowledgeable and authoritative spokespersons in their respective markets,” he noted.
AlQurese pointed out that in order to maximise the impact of the nation’s marketing efforts, it is vital that all parties are focused on promoting the key attractions and resources that give Qatar a distinctive edge in cultural authenticity.
“As a relatively fresh destination, our aim is to spread a clear, consistent, and positive brand positioning that resonates in our key overseas markets.”
He stressed that a major highlight of the meeting’s agenda was examining the performance and achievements of each region.
“We adopt a target-based system to ensure that all QTA marketing resources are deployed to optimise effectiveness. The offices will also present their detailed strategic marketing plans and targets for the remainder of 2015,” he said.
The Peninsula
