Qatar Airways, the national airline of Qatar, recently sponsored the annual Festival of Speed festival held over three days in Goodwood, UK.

The Doha-based carrier was a first time sponsor of the British event held between July 3 and 5, attracting thousands of visitors to its special trackside hospitality enclosure.

Celebrities from the world of entertainment and sport, past and present, joined in the glitz and glamour of the festivities, enjoying the thrills and spills of motorsport of the bygone and current era.

Goodwood, in West Sussex, hosts the annual Festival of Speed, which is seen as the world’s biggest and most diverse celebration of the history of motor sport and car culture, now in its 17th year.

“The Goodwood Festival of Speed is arguably one of the best sporting occasions on the social circuit and Qatar Airways was proud to be associated with this prestigious event,” said Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer of Qatar Airways.

“Qatar Airways was delighted to partner with Goodwood for such a high-profile three days of wonderful entertainment, attracting visitors to our sponsors’ enclosure, where they had an opportunity to experience our award-winning hospitality.”

Qatar Airways branded the sponsors’ enclosure at Goodwood, hosting invited guests, including frequent travellers and potential customers, with 11 of the airline’s flight attendants on duty.

Numerous high-profile visitors were hosted in the Qatar Airways sponsors’ enclosure and other sponsors included Dunhill, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Cartier.

Festival of Speed founder, Lord March said: “We absolutely run this event on attention to detail and we believe that Qatar Airways, with their high levels of service and their quality brand, have been a superb partner delivering Five Star hospitality in our sponsors’ enclosure."

Veteran Goodwood sponsor Jaguar’s Theo Rumham added: “This is our sixth year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the hospitality this year offered by Qatar Airways in the sponsors’ lounge has been by far the best."

“This event has given us the opportunity to allow guests who may not be familiar with Qatar Airways to experience first hand our onboard hospitality and find out more about the airline and its diverse international network,” said Paul Johannes, Qatar Airways senior manager Europe.

“Goodwood allowed us to introduce the Qatar Airways brand to a new audience and raise awareness about our network of over 80 destinations worldwide,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service