Following the meeting of the Council of Arab Ministers of Tourism in Alexandra, Egypt, held in June 2010, many key areas were identified as critical for the development of tourism in the region including training and qualification of human resources, marketing and tourism promotion, tourism information, statistics and tourism investment, sustainable development and reduction of poverty and unemployment. Qatar was elected to lead the effort to revitalize marketing and promotion for tourism in the Middle East. As part of this role, QTA has organized workshops and specialized courses in the area of tourism marketing and promotion for a number of Arab nations.

 

“Tourism Destination Management” has been selected as the theme of the workshop due to the emergence of new destinations and growth of existing tourist destinations, thus intensifying competition for visitors in today’s economic climate. Through this workshop, Qatar Tourism Authority will highlight the importance of destination management, especially in times of crisis, with sessions that will focus on key areas including developing special assessment of the competitiveness of the destination, determining the strategy for future growth, and providing practical experience which will sharpen the skills of tourism professionals from officials and managers of tourist attractions and other institutions of the public and private sectors in the Middle East and North Africa.

The workshop will focus on building skills and capacity for regional tourism professionals, including the development of strategies for marketing campaigns, competitive positioning, the role of the private and public sectors in the revitalization of tourism promotion, and sustainable development.

 

“This is an exciting yet important time for tourism in our region.  With the world slowly coming out of the global economic crisis, countries with tourism opportunities face increased competition as many nations are rushing to position themselves as attractive destinations for business visitors as well as tourists. As a region, we have a lot to offer – deep rooted history, rich culture, steadfast traditions. We must work together to market and promote our regional uniqueness, complemented by what each of our countries offer to tourists,” said Mr. Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority.  “As professionals engaged in the business of opening our cities and countries to outside visitors, it’s essential that we gather to learn from one another, share best practices and work to develop our individual tourism sectors through workshops such as these.”

 

Mr. Al Nuaimi added: “We are honored to be working with the United Nations World Tourism Organization to organize these training sessions for the GCC and MENA regions, and firmly support their goals of improving and growing the tourism industry worldwide.”

 

The three-day events includes presentations, plenary sessions and breakout sessions and will provide middle to senior level tourism professionals - from officials of regional tourism authorities to representatives and owners of public and private institutions in the hospitality and tourism sectors - with practical expertise for managing tourism destinations.

 

Participants of the workshop will include organizations in the hospitality and services industry in Qatar and across the GCC and MENA regions including 5-and 4- star hotels, tour operators, events organizers and venues, important tourist sites as well as representatives of tourism ministries from around the Middle East including Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Mauritania.

This workshop is part of a series of training plans that have been undertaken by the Qatar Tourism Authority in its quest to further human resource development in the tourism sector. QTA adopted this comprehensive training plan as a result of a UNWTO summit on the challenges of human resources in tourism, which was held in Doha in 2009. Qatar has already hosted regional training sessions on tourism security and marketing strategy and implementation techniques.