Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) aims to open representative offices in India and Russia before the end of this year, head of Marketing and Promotion at the QTA Rashed al-Quraisi has said.
In a press release issued by the authority, Rashed al-Quraisi said that this will be one of the largest markets for tourists in the world, adding that this is part of QTA's efforts to achieve the objectives of the new phase of the national strategy for the tourism sector.
He said nine promotional offices have been opened around the world and 260 global promotional campaigns have been launched.
The authority also has been in a perfect position to accelerate growth and increase the number of tourist markets exported by the promotional campaigns.
During the summit held by the QTA, the international marketing officials at the authority and members of Qatar's tourism sector addressed ways to enhance Qatar's brand presence as a global tourist destination and to increase the positive impact of international promotional campaigns, especially as the tourism sector began implementing the new phase of the national strategy for the sector.
The new phase of the national tourism strategy, which was launched during the official celebration of World Tourism Day hosted by Qatar last month, includes a development plan aimed at boosting global interest in the country and expanding the network of representative offices that promote Qatar as a tourist destination. It also aims to achieve close co-operation between QTA and Qatar Airways to develop tourism packages that will provide a complete experience for Qatar visitors.
Last month QTA opened its first representative office in China with two branch offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou. This coincided with the official promotion of Qatar as a tourist destination in China, allowing it to receive Chinese tourists and work to strengthen Qatar's status as a tourist destination within the Chinese tourism market.
India, Russia and China are among the 80 countries whose citizens have been exempted from entry visas to Qatar provided they hold valid passports of at least 6 months' validity and a confirmed return ticket.
Since the launch of the first phase of the strategy, Qatar has received more than 10mn visitors. The total contribution of tourism (direct and indirect) to GDP has increased to 6.7%.