Officials and other dignitaries attend the workshop conducted by Qatar Tourism Authority.
Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) hosted 40 travel agents and tour operators hailing from German speaking markets – Germany, Austria and Switzerland –in a new drive to generate visitor growth from those markets.
The familiarisation trip included a workshop organised by FVW, a leading travel magazine in Germany. The workshop brought Qatari industry representatives together with their German counterparts in a discussion that explored what the destination offers to German visitors.
Rashed AlQurese, Chief Marketing and Promotion Officer at QTA, commented, “This is the biggest German-speaking delegation we welcome in Qatar to date, a testament to the shared belief everyone present has in the uniqueness of our country’s tourism offering, and its relevance to the German market.”
Visitor arrival figures indicate that nearly 11% of Qatar’s European visitors in the first three quarters of 2017 were from German-speaking markets. “We expect this portion to grow further over Qatar’s cruise tourism season, during which we are welcoming numerous German and European cruise liners,” added AlQurese.
Klaus Hildebrandt, Editor-in-Chief of FVW added, “Members of the delegation were deeply impressed with the development of the destination and the quality of the hotels visited. Highlights of the excursions were clearly the evening at Souq Waqif and the stunning Museum of Islamic Art. What I really enjoyed were the constructive and open discussions between representatives of QTA and the tourism communities from Qatar and Germany.”
“We all share the conviction that Qatar truly has the potential to play a more important role as a leisure destination that offers high-quality stay and authentic cultural experiences. I would like to thank Qatar Tourism Authority, the hotels involved and Qatar Airways for their great support to this successful event.”
QTA is working closely with partners across German-speaking markets, through its representative office in Berlin. The office opened in 2015 and has seen growing interest in the destination since then, on both the leisure and business events fronts.
