Qatar Emerging as Tourism Hot Spot, Says WTA Founder

Doha, January 09 (QNA) - Staging the grand finale to the World Travel Awards (WTA) this year in Qatar presents an opportunity for travel industry's biggest decision-makers as well as international media to create business and partnership opportunities here, said WTA founder-President Graham Cooke. WTA Grand Final to be hosted in Doha on Wednesday will feature 146 categories with more than 1,000 nominees. "We chose Qatar because it's such an exciting and happening place in the world to be right now, which can only look forward to an even better scenario in the days to come given the developments that are taking place. We can bring the spotlight it deserves," Cooke told the English daily "Qatar Tribune". He said the selection of hosts was fundamental to the success of their awards program. Some of the major international industry destinations where WTA finals were held included New York, Las Vegas, The Bahamas, London, Jamaica, Kuala Lumpur, St Lucia and Turks & Caicos. "We look for destinations that are driving the industry to new heights through innovation and experimentation." Qatar is rapidly establishing itself as a world-class tourism destination for leisure, business, culture and sport. The country is investing $25 billion in tourism infrastructure in the build-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, so there are a lot of opportunities within the luxury hospitality market, and a lot of fresh ideas being put into practice through the many new projects," Cooke added. The 2011 Grand Tour featured regional events in Dubai (UAE), Anatolia (Turkey), Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt), Bangkok (Thailand), and Montero Bay (Jamaica). The winners from these have been nominated for the Grand Final in Doha. The highlights of Qatar-based brands included Doha winning "Middle East's Leading Business Travel Destination" and W Hotel Doha picking up "Middle East's Leading Hotel & Residences". The WTA boss underlined the strong representation of Middle East brands this year which reflected the significant improvement in the tourism offerings of this part of the world. He said, "The likes of the UAE and Qatar are in the midst of a development miracle, and future generations will look back on this period as the golden era of evolution." WTA was launched in 1993 to acknowledge and reward the very best travel organizations in the world. Since its inception, it has been raising the bar of traveler's standards and stimulates competition in the world tourism industry. The eligibility criteria for the so-called 'Oscar of the Hospitality Sector' include levels of customer satisfaction, valuing personnel and fostering innovation and enterprise. WTA's first-ever ceremony was held in Hollywood in 1994 and featured 37 categories. Since then there have been gala ceremonies every year to celebrate the "best of the best" in the international travel industry. In 2004, WTA expanded to include country categories and then, in 2007, kicked off the Grand Tour, hosting regional ceremonies in each continent, with these winners progressing to a Grand Final. "There is barely an industry in the world that hasn't taken a hit because of the global downturn, and travel is certainly no exception. However, the one trait shared by all our winners is that they have fire in their bellies - they possess that unique ability to dig deep and turn adversity into opportunity. The goal of World Travel Awards is to seek out and reward these kinds of organisation - we encourage them and their employees to do things even better. Our Grand Final in Doha is an opportunity for the very best in the world to celebrate and savour their achievements over the past year," Cooke said. (QNA)