Leading the Qatari delegation comprising of public and private sector partners, Qatar Tourism shared destination updates, met with travel trade partners and launched ‘Experience a World Beyond’.

Qatar Tourism led the Qatari delegation to the World Travel Market (WTM) 2021, one of the most significant travel trade events in the world. which returned to a physical travel trade show this year following a virtual edition in 2020. The delegation comprised of 20 industry partners including Qatar Airways, Katara Hospitality, Supreme Committee, various destination management companies (DMCs), and members of the hospitality sector. A delegation from the office of the Qatari Ambassador to the UK, led by the first Secretary Jassim al-Moftah, visited Qatar Tourism’s stand on opening day, where he met with the various partners exhibiting from Qatar.

The Qatar pavilion showcased key developments and initiatives from the destination, while building connections between international travel trade and members of the Qatari tourism industry. Over 100 meetings were held by Qatar Tourism’s sales, marketing, and public relations teams to negotiate and conclude partnership agreements to promote Qatar’s tourism offerings.

Berthold Trenkel, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Qatar Tourism commented, “We are delighted to be back at WTM. This is an exciting time for the global tourism industry and Qatar in particular. We have a host of exciting new initiatives to announce this year, starting with our biggest promotional campaign to date, ‘Experience a World Beyond’. A number of new hotels, theme parks, retail outlets and major leisure projects have recently opened or are set to launch in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, when we will welcome the world to experience the country and all its offerings.”

Qatar Tourism launched ‘Experience a World Beyond’ on the opening day of WTM. The campaign targets 17 top visitor source markets for Qatar and features nine characters designed with CGI technology. The characters will bring images of Qatar to life for audiences across major cities in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Turkey and the United States as well as on the Visit Qatar website and mobile application, which were launched recently as part of the entity’s digital transformation.

With the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 just a year away, Qatar Tourism revealed its short-term plans for the next year as well as its long-term vision of targeting 6 million international visitors by 2030. 105 new hotels and serviced apartments have been added to the country’s already extensive portfolio of properties to broaden its appeal to a range of travelers regardless of their budget. These include Banyan Tree Doha; the Pullman Doha West Bay; the JW Marriott West Bay; and the Steigenberger Hotel.

Apart from new sports and hospitality venues, Qatar Tourism, in collaboration with its partners, is organizing an exciting calendar of events for the season ahead including the ever-popular Qatar International Food Festival and Heya Arabian Fashion Exhibition, Swan Lake, Qatar Balloon Festival as well as sporting events including the FIFA Arab Cup 2021, Formula 1 Grand Prix, and many other local and international tournaments.

Spread over 609 sqm, the Qatar pavilion at WTM featured huge video screens wrapped around the entire pavilion playing Qatar Tourism’s recently released “Experience a World Beyond” advertisement, as well as digital towers and tables. There was also a huge screen where visitors used gesture control to have a 180-degree immersive tour of Qatar.  Models of the eight stadiums which have been built for the FIFA World cup were on display, with video footage of Qatar’s journey in winning the World Cup bid. As the future will see Qatar hosting F1, an F1 simulator was in the pavilion for visitors to race virtually round a track, to see who can race the fastest without crashing.

All the activations brought guests on to the Qatar stand allowing them to enter a competition via iPad, to win one of three incredible holiday experiences being provided by Qatar Tourism.

Qatari heritage was also on full display with a whole cultural section of the pavilion where visitors were able to take away their name or a gift, in Arabic, handwritten by our calligrapher. The heritage area was surrounded by Qatari desert roses and a souq of spices and dates, available to guests to sit in and have their photograph taken.

The following co-participants featured on the Qatar Tourism stand, offering trade visitors comprehensive insights into the attractions and facilities Qatar has to offers.

Running for over 4 decades since its first edition in 1980, World Travel Market London facilitates £2.8 billion in travel and tourism industry deals and has around 5,000 exhibitors from 182 countries and regions and more than 51,000 participants attend this annual event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry trends.