Panelists exchanging ideas at the Qatar Invest Conference 2023, yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: Tourism in Qatar is on the rise evident by the hosting of the mega event ‘FIFA World Cup 2022’ last year. The country has maintained its momentum in 2023 by attracting strong growth of visitors and continues investing in its tourism and culture sectors.
Experts highlighted during a panel discussion entitled ‘Qatar’s Remarkable Journey: A Vision for Tourism and Infrastructure Development’ tourism related projects around World Cup and aspects of sustainability and smart cities at the Qatar Investment Conference 2023 held, yesterday.
For his part, Khaled Al Suwaidi, Director of Projects, Katara Hospitality elaborated how Katara Hospitality is attracting more families. “Qatar is family friendly and a safe family destination. Family friendly entertainment and services are significant.”
Commenting on the outlook for tourism in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030, Al Suwaidi said, the last few years have been fruitful and by 2030 Qatar will be one of the top tourist destinations in the world.
Also, speaking during the panel discussion, Khalid Al Jassim, Senior Business Development Officer, Qetaifan Projects explained the role it plays in attracting tourism and briefed about Qetaifan Island North.
“I think entertainment today is a very important sector in supporting tourism. Within Qatar, flourishing real estate and development market, Qetaifan is leading in sustainability and we have kept up with the smart and sustainable infrastructure,” he said.
Al Jassim also discussed about sustainability in projects and ways to make them more sustainable and viable both economically and environmentally by elaborating how Qetaifan and the country as a whole is looking at alternative ways to meet these projects which are more sustainable by using technologies.
Rahul Potdar, Director, Portfolio Management Developments, Qatari Diar said, “We are seeing a lot of initiatives around tourism and there are several initiatives that are taking place within the context of Qatar’s tourism in general.”
Responding to query regarding how families are driving the tourism sector, he noted that FIFA 2022 proved to be a family oriented and resoundingly successful World Cup. “I think generally looking at the region family tourism is our competitive edge from tourism standpoint. It stands out clearly and that’s the focus going forward.”
Speaking about sustainability, Potdar said, “We all know the importance of ESG in today’s world and especially in the context of real estate as it is taking a lot of center stage and focus globally. ”
“I think Qatar has the right platform, vision and strategy in place. It’s going to be challenging to some extend but we all look forward to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030,” Potdar added.
Silvia Lambiase, Senior Country Editor, The Business Year moderated the panel.
