“Asia is an important market for Qatar tourism,” said Mr. Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority. “Not only do our countries have strong business partnerships and mutual investment interests, we have learned during our roadshow that many outbound travellers and associations from Asia are looking to discover a new destination that can offer rich cultural experience and unique attractions. The expansion of Qatar Airways’ routes to Asia helps to facilitate travel to Qatar from many major cities in Asia. Our participation in ITB Asia provides us with the opportunity to meet with some of Asia’s most important industry leaders and leading MICE organizations to inspire them about Qatar.” QTA was the exclusive sponsor of the ITB Asia 2010 buyers lounge.

On the opening day of the exhibition, the Qatar stand was visited by an important delegation of VIPs including Mr. S. Iswaran, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore; Mr. Hisham Zaazau, First Assistant Manager, Ministry of Tourism in Egypt; and Mr. Raimund Hosch, CEO of Messe Berlin.

Qatar Tourism Authority and the participants from Qatar’s tourism industry met with many trade professionals throughout the exhibition. “Our meetings were very positive,” said Mr. Talal Khalife, Director of Sales for the Doha Marriott. “We host many groups and organize large-scale meetings for Asian organizations including athletic teams and training conferences. We have made some more connections here at ITB Asia with organizers looking for new, fresh destinations for their events. The location and facilities at the Doha Marriot are very suited to these events.”

Olivier Wallaert of Pacha Tours and Rev Vacances is interested to create stopover packages for his groups travelling between Paris and Bangkok. “Qatar Airways is our preferred carrier, and with the stopover in Doha we are looking to make a special package for our groups. Doha has built up quite a bit over the past couple of years, and has a lot of interesting activities that our clients will enjoy.”

Sydney Chau is an account manager at CYTS in Shanghai, one of the largest travel service providers in China. “This is the first time we have thought about Qatar as a tourist destination. We have incentive groups between 20 and 200 people, and are looking for new products and destinations to propose to them. Qatar is a very interesting and new market to consider.”

The Asian Cup 2011 Committee sponsored an exciting reception event on the Qatar stand on Thursday, promoting the widely anticipated championship tournament which will be held in Qatar in January 2011, by offering many branded give-away items. Live traditional music, Arabic coffee, and traditional Qatari hospitality were on offer during the reception. There were grand prize drawings including flights to Qatar from Qatar Airways, overnight accommodations at luxury 5 star hotel properties, complimentary tours around Qatar and tickets to the Asian Cup.

John Forsyth, General Manager and Director of Asia Travel Experts Pty Ltd in Australia was the grand prize winner. “I have been wanting to organize a trip to Qatar for some time now,” said Mr. Forsyth. “I am so happy to now have the opportunity to do so, and to add Qatar as a product to our portfolio.”

 At ITB Asia, Qatar Tourism Authority was accompanied by an important delegation representing the examples of high-quality standards Qatar has achieved to become a premier business travel destination, including the Museum of Islamic Art, the Asian Cup Committee, Grand Hyatt Doha, SharqVillage and Spa, Ritz Carlton Hotel, Doha Marriott Hotel, Movenpick Tower and Suites, Retaj Al Rayyan Hotel and several major travel tours operators.

ITB Asia is the premier B2B trade show and convention for the travel industry for establishing new customer contacts and conducting business through networking opportunities, guaranteeing high-quality customer contacts with top buyers from the MICE, leisure and corporate travel markets in Asia Pacific.