“Rich in art, culture and tradition, Qatar is a country waiting to be discovered,” said Lubaina Sheerazi, CEO & Co-founder, BRANDit (the company that represents sales & marketing for Qatar Tourism). The tourism board recently organised an intimate evening in Mumbai for its trade partners to showcase the multiple attractions and offerings of Qatar for the Indian market.

The tourism board launched its biggest promotional campaign, ‘Experience a World Beyond’ in November 2021 and will be soon releasing the same in the Indian market. Speaking about the Indian market, Philip Dickinson, Vice President International Markets, Qatar Tourism said, “India is one of our priority source markets and we intend to position Qatar as a premium short-haul destination for Indian travellers. We have one of the world’s best airlines – Qatar Airways, with that, our important strategy of 2022 would be to educate our trade partners about Qatar and why we are more than just a transit city.”

The campaign targets 17 global markets and features CGI animated characters. The global campaign is part of a strategy to boost the role played by tourism in Qatar’s economy and increase its contribution to the GDP to 10% by 2030, and increase visitor arrivals to 6 million. The campaign also raises awareness of the destination and what it offers, in advance of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and beyond.

According to Deveekaa Nijhawan, International PR and Communications – Head, Qatar Tourism; the country is focusing on activities instead of regions and locations. For instance, the country will focus on two segments with each focusing on three demand spaces which are ‘Point-to-Point’ (Active Holidays, Relax & Rejuvenate and Sun-Sea-&-Sand) and ‘Stop-over’ (Culture Enthusiasts, Luxury City Breaks and Romantic Gateways).

In the past year alone, Qatar Tourism, in collaboration with its partners, has launched several initiatives and programmes to welcome visitors from all over the world and to provide them a safe tourism experience. This includes the “Qatar Clean” program, which promotes a healthy and safe environment in hospitality. Qatar Tourism also launched the “Service Excellence” program to elevate the tourism experience at every stage of the visitor journey. The entity has also developed its Visit Qatar website as part of its digital transformation, and launched a Visit Qatar mobile application that offers a handy guide to the country’s offerings, providing location-based recommendations and interactive functions that tailor content to visitor needs and interests.