Qatar tourism chiefs are planning to unveil new consumer branding next year to drive business through the trade.
Qatar Tourism Authority launched its concerted trade activity in the UK this year, with 147 frontline selling staff registering for its Tawash online training programme and 86 qualifying as specialists within a month of launch.
The authority now plans to build further on its strategy with two fam trips in November and December before running consumer activity incorporating new branding in 2015.
Issa AlMohannadi, chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority (pictured), said a strategic decision had been taken to ensure the trade was given the tools to be able to capitalise on growing consumer interest.
“We see the UK as a key market, and we are very pleased with the reaction from the travel trade so far,” he said. “The UK is our number one European market and our number four global market, so we see great opportunities to develop our visitor numbers.”
AlMohannadi said the QTA hoped to attract 140,000 visitors from the UK by the end of this year, and also hoped to bring in more leisure and point-to-point guests.
The QTA currently has relationships with 32 UK tour operators – up from 17 in 2012 – and hopes to have 40 suppliers on its books by the turn of year.
Average length of stay is currently 3.5 nights, and AlMohannadi said he would like to see that increase to five nights as new product from Qatar Airways and new developments from Anantara and Kempinski attracted more leisure visitors.