The thee-week Arabian Gulf adventure, the region’s first Rolls-Royce tour, will kick off in Doha tomorrow (February 27).

More than 70 classic cars were on show today at the Pearl-Qatar, one of Qatar’s most prestigious urban developments located 350 metres off the cost Doha.

The tour will proceed to Abu Dhabi, transiting Saudi Arabia before crossing the mountains to the historic town of Nizwa in Oman, via Al Ain, continuing on to Muscat, the capital of Oman, before ending up back on the coastline of the Arabian Gulf in Dubai.

Organised by Peter Cameron, the mastermind behind earlier successful Tours of Malaysia in 2001 and Borneo in 2005, the purpose of the tour is to further promote regional tourism, showcase rare cars and to offer the participants the opportunity to experience Arab hospitality and learn about the local culture.

“Plans are well advanced for what promises to be a spectacular tour of this beautiful, if perhaps little known part of the world,” said Peter Cameron. “We hope our tour can in some small way help to promote a greater understanding of different cultures and ways of life, while offering participants an opportunity to discover magnificent scenery, good driving roads, and legendary standards of hospitality.”

Several of these historic and classically engineered cars have travelled on similar tours throughout the world, some as long as the 2007 Peking to Paris Rally. This particular tour brings together motoring enthusiasts from all over the world too, including the UK, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Monaco, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and Bermuda.

The event is organised on a non-profit basis and is supported by a committee of seasoned volunteers. The tour group pays tribute to the Alfardan Group, who, in close cooperation with Qatar Airways, helped bring this unique classic cars adventure to the Middle East and agreed with the organisers to inaugurate it from Qatar as part of their commitment towards promoting tourism in Qatar.

Qatar Airways is the main sponsor and official carrier with Alfardan Group paying a major role to facilitate the complex logistical aspects of the programme throughout the Gulf region. Qatar, once again, is first in introducing such a prestigious event, following on from those such as the Asian Games and the Moto GP. – TradeArabia News Service