Berthold Trenkel (right), Chief Operating Officer at Qatar Tourism and Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director at UNWTO during the session at QNCC.
The State of Qatar is upbeat on increasing the number of visits to the country and elevating the GDP by 12 percent in the next 7 years.
Speaking on the sidelines of the session entitled ‘Harnessing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Tourism as Tools For Sustainable Development in LDCs’, a joint event hosted by World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and Qatar Tourism at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC), Berthold Trenkel, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Qatar Tourism said that the sector will witness a significant surge of arrivals as 6 million visitors per year will be anticipated by 2030, increasing spending by 3 to 4 times, boosting GDP from 7 to 12 percent adding that “we want to double employment in the tourism sector.”
Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director, UNWTO said: “The tourism sector, with its broad linkages in goods and services, can contribute to economic growth and LDC’s graduation. Now it’s time to scale up tourism’s transformation and digitalisation, making the sector a driving force for inclusive growth and prosperity for LDCs.”
Lauding Qatar’s immense support in contributing to the tourism industry, Urosevic said, “I want to warmly thank Qatar and Qatar tourism. We are all here because we are tourists and the most important is discovering a place that is bringing happiness to the people but happiness to the people that would visit.
So we are very grateful for the support and hosting these events and activities enabling tourists to support LDCs and of course, this is only the first step.”
Urosevic underlined that a lot of improvements and innovations are still required and more investors and partners will be invited to implement this initiative.
She also mentioned more developments in digital skills will be carried out by partnering with leading tech companies in the world having “an ambition to reach 10 million by 2030”.
Natalia Bayona, Director of Innovation, Education, and Investments at UNWTO, addressed the gathering virtually.
She highlighted that “Venture Capital investors envision investments in tourism startups that are purpose-driven, social-driven and sustainably driven companies.”
Following the event, the panel discussions witnessed a few entrepreneurial success stories from LDCs who presented the economic impact of tourism for LDCs in addition to recommendations and examples of how innovation and strategic partnerships in the sector enable economic enhancement from the 46 least developed countries.
