Qatar Tourism in 2022

Doha, The Gulf Observer: The tourism in Qatar has bounced back from pre-pandemic years; thanks to the World Cup and countries which opened its borders for tourism, 2022 marked a spectacular year for Qatar Tourism (QT).

It has proved yet again to the world what Qatar has to offer – as it bagged numerous prestigious accolades for its global campaigns.

The latest of which is its ‘Experience a World Beyond’ campaign that was named World’s Leading Marketing Campaign at the 29th World Travel Awards, Grand Final Gala Ceremony, in Oman, and Middle East’s Leading Marketing Campaign at the 29th World Travel Awards, Gala Ceremony, in Jordan and World’s Best Tourism Authority Website.

Moreover, the campaign’s promotional film won first place in the ‘Tourist Destination Country’ category at the 11th Zagreb TourFilm Festival. The campaign also took first place at the World’s Tourism Film Awards, organised by Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT) in Valencia, which recognise promotional films with creative excellence. Those awards were conferred in November.

2022 a memorable year for Qatar Tourism

In March, it received five accolades at the Horizon Interactive Awards 2021. The awards are renowned in the field of interactive, web design, and creative media, and recognise compelling websites and website designs, videos, and mobile applications.

QT won ‘Best in Show’, ‘Best Overall Mobile App’, ‘Best in Category for Web Tows & Municipalities’, ‘Best in Category for Web Travel & Tourism’, and ‘Gold in Global Campaign for Social Media Strategy’.

In September, it received the ‘Best Design and Decoration’ award for its booth at OTM Mumbai 2022, the leading travel trade show in Asia.

In October, QT bagged 13 awards for its website and mobile app. It was recently awarded World’s Best Tourism Authority Website and Middle East’s Best Tourism Authority Website at the 2nd Annual World Travel Tech Awards 2022, voted for by travel professionals, media and consumers worldwide.

During summer, it also won the prestigious Adobe Experience Maker Award 2022 in “The Orchestrator” category for outstanding customer journey orchestration across different channels, locations, languages, and platforms. And it scooped up a bronze award for its Visit Qatar Mobile Application at the Digital Communication Awards 2022, which have been rewarding outstanding online projects and campaigns since 2011.

And last month, legendary Italian footballer Andrea Pirlo starred in a new global campaign by Qatar Tourism titled “No Football. No Worries.” The iconic sportsman, who famously played for the Italian national team, will show just how much Qatar has to offer and where to experience its world-class offerings.

This December, just last week, it launched its new “Feel More in Qatar” campaign, which aims to highlight the country’s position as a premium destination, and as the Middle East’s top choice for the well-travelled tourist.

Several partnerships deals were also inked this year

Back in February, QT signed a superyacht luxury cruises partnership with Swiss-based cruise company Emerald Cruises. The said cruises will launch its sail from Doha in January 2023.

In March, it entered into an agreement to handover Doha Exhibition Centre for 10 years to Qatar Museums for the establishment of the Qatar Auto Museum. The venue will serve as a home to the country’s latest museum which is dedicated to supporting Qatar’s aim to developing unique cultural and tourist attractions.

Came November, QT and online travel service providers Trip.com Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote Qatar across the globe as an ideal choice for family-friendly tourism. The one-year agreement will see Qatar extensively promoted through a series of marketing campaigns, across Trip.com Group’s world-leading brands and associated assets, which include Ctrip.com (China), Trip.com (global), MakeMyTrip.com (India), and Skyscanner.com (global).

New programmes in Qatar during 2022

In August, QT launched a new, interactive online training programme called Qatar Specialist, which is designed to enhance its global travel trade partners knowledge of Qatar’s diverse product offering and provide a recognised qualification for its global travel trade partners.

Also during the said month, it released a stopover holiday campaign featuring David Beckham to support the country’s tourism goals and ambition to attract more than six million visitors a year by 2030.

There were also many firsts for Qatar Tourism this year

Its inaugural guidebook was launched this 2022 called ‘Qatar Now’ which has now two volumes. First edition was released in March, and a special edition for World Cup was also published. It is a comprehensive country guide of Qatar as a destination and is available for free at traveller touchpoints across the country.

To boost communication with stakeholders, visitors, and residents, QT in April launched its Tourism Hotline – 106 and is operational 24/7.

And QT opened its first representative office in Tehran, Iran in August adding to its vast and growing network of offices around the world.

A basket of offerings

Qatar Tourism has also offered trainings and seminars for all.

The ‘Qatar Host’ tourism training programme was launched in August and is the first online tourism training programme in the country providing frontline professionals, such as hotel concierge staff, mall security and restaurant waiters, with the relevant skills and knowledge to deliver Service Excellence to international and domestic visitors.

In October alone, a tour guide training courses for residents and citizens of Qatar was offered, and it has also continued to offer free and complimentary in-person service excellence training courses to target 5,000 frontline service professionals working in hotels and tourism companies.

A month before the kick-off of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, QT revealed new tourism attractions, hotels and resorts that were open for fans to enjoy during the tournament. These are Al Maha Island, Lusail Winter Wonderland, Lusail Boulevard, Qetaifan Island North, Corinthia Yacht Club, West Walk.

Under beaches and beach clubs: West Bay North Beach Project comprised of West Bay Beach, B12 Beach Club Doha, Doha Sands, 974 Beach Club, La Mar Beach Club, and Makani Beach Club.

Under arts and culture: the re-opened Museum of Islamic Art; Shopping: Printemps Doha; Hotels and resorts: Fuwairit Kite Beach, The St. Regis Marsa Arabia Island, Rixos Gulf Hotel Doha, The Outpost Al Barari, Rixos Qetaifan Island North Doha, Waldorf Astoria Doha West Bay, Waldorf Astoria Doha Lusail, The Ned Doha, The Chedi Katara Hotel & Resort, Raffles Doha and Fairmont Doha, Rosewood Doha, Katara Hills LXR Hotels, and DoubleTree by Hilton Doha Downtown.

And during the largest sporting event in the world, activities, campaigns such as concerts, cultural and entertainment events were all positioned to entertain fans from all over the world. Award-winning DJs and artists held performances all throughout the World Cup across the country.

More visitors in Qatar

In a data released by QT last week, it revealed that early November, and less than two weeks into the global sporting event, the country had already welcomed over 600,000 visitors from around the world.

Leading the latest tourism figures are visitors from Saudi Arabia (16 percent of total international arrivals), followed by India (8 percent), USA (7 percent), UK (6 percent) and Mexico (5 percent). Argentina, Egypt, Iran, France and Kuwait also make up the top 10 source countries for all inbound international visitors.

As the year closes, Qatar Tourism has assured the public that the next year calendar will be “action-packed.”

AFC Asian Cup, Formula 1, Geneva International Motor Show and Expo 2023 Doha are among the events for the 2023 Qatar calendar, said Qatar Tourism Chief Operating Officer Berthold Trenkel in a press conference.

“We have an action-packed calendar, we have about 300 days of events in 2023 — it’s a full calendar. We will host the Formula 1 again, the Geneva International Motor Show will not be happening in Geneva but here in Qatar, AFC Asian Cup because of all the stadiums we have, and Expo 2023 Doha, which will run for six months.”

With the achievements and results Qatar Tourism hold for this year, it’s no wonder that its aim to welcome more than six million visitors per year by 2030 will be a piece of cake.