And an organiser will also find that the whole country is very interested in attracting MICE business. Taking shape rapidly is the QNCC – the Qatar National Convention Centre. At a cost of US$1.2bn, when it opens in 2011 it will seat 2,500 in its auditorium and a further 1,000 in its Plenary Hall. It has already been booked for the World Petroleum Congress. ‘In Qatar’, says the Tourism Chairman, ‘we currently have about 11,000 hotel rooms. By 2012 we will have 29,000.
‘In 2009 hotel openings included a Hilton, a W, a Grand Hyatt and a Radisson Blu. Coming shortly are Shangri-La, another Radisson, Marriott, Traders and Kempinski. They will all have meeting facilities and, of course, they will all welcome incentive groups.’
Ahmed is keen to attract incentives and meetings with leisure programmes. ‘At present we can only calculate about 1.5 days average stay per visitor. We are really aiming to push that up to 3 days or at least 2.5. Qatar has a lot to offer. We have the Gulf climate, the beaches, the desert, wildlife, age-old traditions, the Museum of Islamic Art and excellent food. Combined with the greaet new hotels, there is every reason why visitors should plan a longer stay.’
Qatar has welcomed 800,000 visitors in 2009 and has been recording about a 15 to 20% increase annually. This year 90 corporate events and 25 exhibitions were held in the country and there will be about 15 more held in 2010. And these figures will rocket when the new convention centre is operating. ‘We have tour operators and DMCs with experience and we shall constantly upgrade and expand our facilities for MICE’, says Ahmed – and he can make that kind of statement confidently, knowing that just offshore is the world’s biggest natural gas field.
Qatar also has the big advantage for UK organisers, in that Qatar Airways flies four times a day out of London and once a day out of Manchester and there are also BA flights. ‘Flying football supporters in and out to watch an England-Brazil football match presents no problem,’ he says with a smile.
By Sydney Paulden, Incentive Travel & Corporate Meetings (ITCM)
And an organiser will also find that the whole country is very interested in attracting MICE business. Taking shape rapidly is the QNCC – the Qatar National Convention Centre. At a cost of US$1.2bn, when it opens in 2011 it will seat 2,500 in its auditorium and a further 1,000 in its Plenary Hall. It has already been booked for the World Petroleum Congress. ‘In Qatar’, says the Tourism Chairman, ‘we currently have about 11,000 hotel rooms. By 2012 we will have 29,000.
‘In 2009 hotel openings included a Hilton, a W, a Grand Hyatt and a Radisson Blu. Coming shortly are Shangri-La, another Radisson, Marriott, Traders and Kempinski. They will all have meeting facilities and, of course, they will all welcome incentive groups.’
Ahmed is keen to attract incentives and meetings with leisure programmes. ‘At present we can only calculate about 1.5 days average stay per visitor. We are really aiming to push that up to 3 days or at least 2.5. Qatar has a lot to offer. We have the Gulf climate, the beaches, the desert, wildlife, age-old traditions, the Museum of Islamic Art and excellent food. Combined with the greaet new hotels, there is every reason why visitors should plan a longer stay.’
Qatar has welcomed 800,000 visitors in 2009 and has been recording about a 15 to 20% increase annually. This year 90 corporate events and 25 exhibitions were held in the country and there will be about 15 more held in 2010. And these figures will rocket when the new convention centre is operating. ‘We have tour operators and DMCs with experience and we shall constantly upgrade and expand our facilities for MICE’, says Ahmed – and he can make that kind of statement confidently, knowing that just offshore is the world’s biggest natural gas field.
Qatar also has the big advantage for UK organisers, in that Qatar Airways flies four times a day out of London and once a day out of Manchester and there are also BA flights. ‘Flying football supporters in and out to watch an England-Brazil football match presents no problem,’ he says with a smile.
By Sydney Paulden, Incentive Travel & Corporate Meetings (ITCM)
