QTA Chairman: Tourist Visa Rules for Hotels Eased

Doha, January 22 (QNA) - Hotels in Qatar, irrespective of their category, can now get tourist visas for people of all nationalities, Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) Ahmad Abdullah al-Nuaimi said. This is aside from the 48 Hours in Qatar tourism promotion scheme whereby passengers transiting through the Doha International Airport are issued entry visas so they can stay here for 48 hours for sight-seeing, al-Nuaimi told Qatari daily (al-Sharq) in an interview yesterday. The scheme has been launched in association with Qatar Airways. The QTA has support of the Ministry of Interior as well, and is appreciative of the Ministry s efforts for making tourist visa rules easier. Replying to a question about plans to attract expatriates living in other GCC states for tourism, the QTA chairman reiterated that all hotels here could now apply for tourist visas for people from all nationalities. This is aside from the fact that people from 33 nationalities can access the visa-on-arrival facility at the Doha International Airport and the 48 Hours in Qatar program, Ahmed Abdullah Al Nuaimi said. He said that the QTA is presently focusing on attracting tourists from neighboring GCC states and will launch this April a tourism promotion drive in the region. Last year a lot of GCC tourists visited Qatar and for the past two months a campaign is being run on a satellite channel promoting Qatar in the region as a family destination . There currently are 10,050 hotel rooms in the country and some 3,050 more rooms will come on the market this year, and one of its positive impacts would be that room tariffs would become competitive due to adequate supplies. Qatar recently winning six awards at the coveted Global Travel Oscar here has made it a world tourist destination and its particularly bagging the best global business destination prize is sure to increase tourist inflow into the country. The tourism sector witnessed a growth of 20 percent last year over 2010 due to the development of the local tourism industry. The Pearl-Qatar, Katara Cultural Village and Souq Waqif are special attractions for tourists. A law to regulate the tourism sector is on the anvil and it would arm the QTA with judicial powers and that would help the Authority to develop the sector much faster. "We have been working on the draft of this legislation for the past three-and-a-half years," al-Nuaimi said. The QTA has plans to award scholarships to Qatari students in cooperation with the Supreme Education Council (SEC) to pursue studies in travel and tourism. Talks are on with Qatar University to open a department fully dedicated to studies related to travel and tourism. A new Doha International Exhibition Centre is being built at a cost of QR4 billion. It is slated for inauguration in the first quarter of next year. Strategic plans for tourism development until 2016 and 2030 are being finalised and will be announced soon. (QNA)