Zaheer Yousuf, Manager, Retail Sales and Industry Affairs, Darwish Travel, giving a presentation about latest trends and developments in the tourism sector, during an event held at Holiday Villa Hotel & Residence Doha. Pic: Abdul Basit/The Peninsula
Travel industry officials are optimistic about long-term growth of Qatar’s tourism sector. The efforts taken by government will play crucial role in boosting tourism sector.
“The tourism sector of Qatar is poised for growth, helped by steps taken the government and concerned authorities. The country has already seen increased in tourist arrivals,” Zaheer Yousuf, Manager, Retail Sales and Industry Affairs, Darwish Travel, told The Peninsula, speaking on sidelines of an industry event organised by Darwish Travel, held recently at Holiday Villa Hotel & Residence Doha.
“This year has been good in terms of visitor arrivals and we have seen significant increase queries from tourists who want to visit Qatar,” he said.
He praised the role of Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) in boosting tourism. Now many events are being organised in the country to attract tourists. These events not only attract foreign tourists but they also engage locals which is good for tourism industry. The offers and discounts given by hotels, malls and other stakeholders have played a pivotal role in significantly increasing the overall occupancy rate of all hotels.
Yousuf said that due to the wise policy of concerned authorities, the tourism sector in the country has overcome the impact of blockade. Despite the blockade, tourism industry has grown consistently.
“This event is very special for me because it was the first time that all the stakeholders of travel and tourism industry came together at one platform,” he added. Latest statistics have showed that Qatar welcomed 1.19 million visitors during the first seven months of 2019, showing a 10.7 percent increase, compared to the same period in 2018.
