POSTED: November 11th 2011
ViewPoint
Sports tourism: Qatar plans to push sport well into the future
NIKKI WICKS / Sports Features Communications
LONDON: Qatar will continue its drive to establish itself as a world-class sporting hotspot, regardless of today’s decision on which city will host the 2017 IAAF World Championships.
Speaking to SportFeatures.com at London’s World Travel Market, Ahmed Abdullah Al-Nuaimi, chairman of the Qatar Tourism Authority said the destination would be “building a continued cycle” of top sporting events well into the future.
Qatar’s capital, Doha, is competing against London for the hosting rights to the 2017 IAAF World Championships. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will select the host city in a vote of its 27-member council in Monaco later today.
Qatar has emerged as a serious player in world sporting events and has been working extensively to establish itself as a prime sporting destination. As well as winning the hosting rights to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Doha is also bidding for the 2020 Olympic Games.
As part of a restructure in 2009, Qatar Tourism Authority was given the mandate to organize exhibitions in Qatar as well as represent and promote the destination as a leading tourism spot for leisure, business, education and sport.
Commenting ahead of today’s vote on which city will host the 2017 IAAF World Championships, Al-Nuaimi said:
“We welcome the event. And beyond 2017, we will be building a continued cycle of major sporting events to take place in Qatar.”
Sports tourism is a massive part of Qatar’s plans attract more visitors to the destination. During the Asian Football Cup in January 2011, Qatar recorded a 12.3 per cent increase in visitor numbers.
With more than $100billion worth of infrastructure due to be completed before 2022, including the construction of 77 new hotels, Al-Nuaimi said Qatar would not be competing for mass market tourism business, but developing its luxury offering in the run up to the World Cup.
Qatar is expecting 1.2 million overseas visitors this year, and will be looking for 20 per cent increases each year as a number of new hotels are built. Plans for a number of state-of-the-art sporting venues and facilities are also underway.
Keywords · Qatar · Doha · 2017 IAAF World Championships · 2022 FIFA World Cup · Qatar Tourism Authority
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