Qatar Tourism is ramping up its strategies to drive more tourists in the country by capitalising on stopover campaign together with Qatar Airways.
This is one of the six key strategies QT is focusing on upping the tourist numbers in Qatar which is set to welcome over 1.5 million visitors for the World Cup from November.
Qatar Tourism, COO Berthold Trenkel said in the “Sports and Tourism: A Win-Win for National Growth?” session during Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg on Wednesday that according to their data, Qatar has been a transit airport, “people arrive, people go, no one gets off – so that’s one thing for us to change.”
Earlier this month, he revealed to reporters that they will be launching a programme by the end of June to attract more transit visitors. This campaign will go live in key markets including Australia and the United Kingdom as these countries have the most number of transit traffic.
Currently, Qatar Airways is offering a stopover package. Stopover tourism is meant to attract immediate incremental arrivals, encourage repeat visits, bring economic benefits to airlines and local industry stakeholders, attract travellers that did not previously consider destination a priority, and benefit the traveller by allowing two destinations with one airfare, said Pacific Asia Travel Association.
Another plan to drive traffic to Qatar is what they call “cultural enthusiast,” this means that people travel to experience the country, immerse themselves through history, culture, and arts. He mentioned that museums in the country are among the strongest factors in attracting tourists, as well as the old market, Souq Waqif which is included in the most popular places in the country. Also, cuisine, and religion, Trenkel explained.
The country has been the centre of attraction as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is set to take place five months from now, the COO explained that the sporting event will be their “springboard” to increase the tourism economy. “We want people to see and experience the country.”
Moreover, Trenkel emphasised that they will push more on digital displays in informing the public on the latest events and happenings in the country. The public can access and be guided on the latest offerings on culture, arts, and tourism via visitqatar.qa, Visit Qatar mobile app, also the Hayya to Qatar mobile app which gives the ultimate fan experience during the World Cup.
The COO also revealed that they are waiting for the approval from the Ministry to give them the licensing authority for the events, “so that there’s a mandate to register, then it would go in the database. So once this is through, there should be no reason that we don’t know what [event] is happening.”
