Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has launched a promotional road show spanning six cities across the Gulf to endorse Qatar as the ideal destination for Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Roadshow 2012 started in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Al Khobar on May 26; and will move on to Riyadh, Kuwait, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and conclude in Dubai on May 31.

QTA’s tourism strategy during the road show will aim to promote Qatar’s authentic heritage and rich past while highlighting its focus on building the future through creativity and innovation by promoting the five major pillars - meetings, sports, culture, leisure and education.

The Authority, which plans to grow the tourism industry by 20 per cent in the next five years, wants to highlight and educate the GCC on the potential of Qatar being an ideal destination for people to celebrate the two Islamic holidays.

Abdulla Malalla Al Bader, director of tourism at QTA, said: “We are conducting these roadshows to educate the GCC on the potential of Qatar being an ideal destination for people to celebrate Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha.”

“Qatar is fast becoming one of the emerging destinations in the world travel, thanks to our strategy to highlight the range of activities on offer. It has everything a high end traveler needs – stunning hotels, cultural icons and many leisure activities.”

“The promotional roadshow is to promote Qatar as a premier business and upscale leisure destination to meetings, incentive, convention, exhibitions (Mice) professionals,” added Al Bader.

Qatar has made significant investments domestically and internationally to encourage cultural, sport, and leisure tourism to complement business tourism industry in the country.

The government of Qatar has made significant investments to develop Qatar’s tourism infrastructure over a five year period, including the construction of new hotels, resorts and other tourism facilities.

Plans are being put in place to build world-class stadiums for the 2022 Football World Cup.

The iconic Museum of Islamic Art, designed by I M Pei, has put Qatar’s capital city of Doha firmly on the cultural scene in the Middle East.

Other major projects scheduled to open in the near future include the Qatar National Convention Centre, which boasts 40,000 sq m of state-of-the-art exhibition space and the New Doha International Airport, which at completion will be able to handle 50 million passengers. – TradeArabia News Service