Rashed Al-Quraisi
Doha: Qatar Tourism Authority aims to open representative offices which will be one of the largest markets for tourists in the world in India and Russia, Rashed Al-Quraisi, head of Marketing and Promotion at QTA has announce that, the Authority's efforts to achieve the objectives of the new phase of the national strategy for the tourism sector have been launched and are seeking to build on all that has been achieved since 2014.
He added nine promotional offices have been opened around the world and with the launch of 260 global promotional campaigns.
The Authority also has been in a perfect position to accelerate growth and increase the number of tourist markets exported by the promotional campaigns.
During the summit held by the (QTA), the international marketing officials at (QTA) and members of Qatar's tourism sector addressed ways to enhance Qatar's brand presence as a global tourist destination and to increase the positive impact of international promotional campaigns, especially as the tourism sector began implementing the new phase of the national strategy for the sector.
The new phase, which was launched during the official celebration of World Tourism Day hosted by Qatar last month, includes a development plan aimed at boosting global interest in the country in the global tourism market and expanding the network of representative offices that promote Qatar as a tourist destination. It also aims to achieve close cooperation between QTA and Qatar Airways (QA) to develop tourism packages that will provide a complete experience for Qatar visitors.
Last month (QTA) has opened its first representative office in China with two other branch offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou. This coincided with the official awarded of Qatar as a tourist destination in China, allowing it to receive Chinese tourists and work to strengthen Qatar's status as a tourist destination within the Chinese tourism market.
India, Russia and China are among the 80 countries whose citizens have been exempted from entry visas to Qatar provided they hold valid passports of at least 6 months and a confirmed travel or return flight.
Since the launch of the first phase of the strategy, Qatar has received more than 10 million visitors. The total contribution of tourism (direct and indirect) to GDP has increased to 6.7%.
