Chairman of Qatari Hotels Association, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, and First Vice- Chairman of Qatari Hotels Association, Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, with other officials during the meeting.
Qatari Hotels Association (QHA) held its meeting recently during which Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani was elected Chairman of the Qatari Hotels Association while Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Thani Al Thani was elected First ViceChairman of the Qatari Hotels Association.
Omar Hussein Al Fardan was elected the Second Vice-Chairman of the Association, while Sheikh Hamad bin Mohamed Fahd Al Thani was elected the Secretary-General of the Association. Qatari Hotels Association – established under the umbrella of the Qatari Businessmen Association - held its second meeting during 2021, in the presence of the founding members.
The meeting discussed the agenda points, including the Association’s work plan, its strategy, and its activities during the next phase, in addition to the election of members of the Board, and the approval of QHA’s Articles of Association.
From QHA founding members, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani attended the meeting along with Hussein Ibrahim Al Fardan, Sheikh Mohamed bin Fahd Al Thani, Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, Omar Hussein Al Fardan, Sheikh Fahd bin Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Nawaf Jassim Mohamed Al Jaidah, Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Sheikh Hamad bin Mohamed bin Fahd Al Thani, Nasser Sulaiman Al Haidar, Muhammad Ibrahim Al Asmakh, Andrew Humphries - Acting CEO of Katara Hospitality, and Sarah Abdullah, Deputy General Manager of the Qatari Businessmen Association.
At the beginning of the meeting, the attendees expressed their gratitude to Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for his permanent support and continuous guidance on expanding the private sector role and its contribution to the development process and economic diversification in accordance with Qatar Vision 2030 and launching work programs that support the trends and public policies towards a diversified and sustainable economy.
After that, the founding members moved to the election clause for electing the Chairman and the board members of the Qatari Hotels Association, where it resulted in the election of Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani as the Chairman, and Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, First Vice-Chairman and Omar Hussein Al Fardan, the Second Vice-Chairman, while Sheikh Hamad bin Mohamed Fahd Al Thani was elected the Secretary-General.
Following the elections, the attendees resumed the agenda discussion points, and were informed of the Articles of Association and the articles regulating it, including the definition of the association, the conditions for its establishment, its purpose, the goals and vision, the conditions for membership and affiliation, the tasks related to the development of the hotel sector, and ways to increase its contribution to the country’s GDP.
The meeting also discussed Qatari Hotels Association’s work plan, strategy and activities during the next phase, foremost of which is the holding of a series of meetings with QHA counterparts or similar entities regionally and globally, starting with the Turkish Tourism Investors Association (TTYD) to discuss prospects and opportunities for joint cooperation, build common perceptions to enhance and exchange experiences, search for new methods and tools to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 on the hotel and hospitality sector, and to benefit from the experiences of a number of touristic countries in this regard.
The Board members also agreed to organize periodic meetings for hotel managers and founding members, with the aim of uniting efforts, exchanging views and ideas, and getting closely acquainted with the challenges that the hotel sector faces, as well as studying proposed solutions to support the sector, contributing to submitting reports, recommendations and formulating policies and legislation related to the hotel sector.
The members agreed to unite the efforts of hotel owners in order to enhance the effectiveness and role of the sector in Qatar and its affiliated institutions, at the regional level.
The attendees emphasized that the current economic situation that the world is going through as a result of the COVID-19, represents a great challenge to the hotel sector and its workers and to the investment climate in the sector in general, in light of the sharp decline in the number of flights, and the closures that have made people confined to their homes, resulted in the loss of 1.1 billion tourist access, which translates into a loss of $1.2 trillion in revenue and the decrease of 120 million jobs, according to the data of the World Tourism Organization, the thing that places more responsibility on experts and tourism industry to search for realistic measures, and provide Innovative solutions to revitalizes the sector.
The attendees unanimously agreed that the continuation of vaccination programs in Europe, the United States of America and the Arab Gulf states will contribute greatly to the recovery of the tourism sector before the end of this year, which will support the return of the tourist flow and the increase in the movement of individuals in parallel with the start of the businesses and the return of economic activity to its previous status, especially as the tourism sector contributes about 10.3 percent of the total GDP in the world, and provides 330 million jobs, according to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The Participants agreed that the four phases adopted by the competent authorities to gradually lift the restrictions related to the pandemic will contribute to the recovery of the hotel sector in Qatar in parallel with the relaunch of tourism activities, and the search for flexible options for travelers through Qatar Airways, including the provision of tourist vouchers to travelers as a stop Shop, accelerate efforts to develop a clear vision for the tourism sector, benefit from previous experiences, and work on formulating a strategy to diversify the source of tourists and explore new markets for tourism.
At the end of the meeting, the board members agreed to open the door for membership to join Qatari Hotels Association in accordance with the conditions included in the Articles of the Association.
