Tourism Situation Analysis in Qatar - Essay Example

Tourism Situation Analysis In Qatar Introduction: The Gulf of Qatar has a very high per capita income and is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. With a petroleum based economy, Qatar has recently started to concentrate on its tourism industry and hopes to build multiple tourist attractions including the capital state of Doha. Qatar wishes to emulate the tourism infrastructure and success of another emirate state Abu Dhabi, which has been one of the top tourist attractions in the UAE of late. The present study will focus on the prospects of tourism industry growth in Qatar by undertaking a thorough analysis of its tourism situation. With this study we will try to answer questions like: how will Qatar build upon its existing infrastructure and make tourism centric hotspots and venues in its cities? What are the predictions in tourism industry in Qatar? What is the average time frame that Qatar needs to follow while executing a tourism development plan? Which model or strategy in tourism development will help Qatar make fast progress? A Quick Study Of The Economy Qatar has a promising economic situation (Hong, 2008, 12), in which seventy percent of the revenue is derived from petroleum. Petroleum export is also a major constituent of their exports as it makes a solid 85 percent contribution in the export industry. Overall, Qatar has a bright prospect of turning into a tourism hotspot if it concentrates on building infrastructure and cities that attract tourists with appealing buildings and scenic locales. In 2009, the overall tourism revenue gathered by Qatar was estimated to be a total of USD 0.7 billion, which was way behind the UAE at USD 7.2 billion and Bahrain at USD 1.1 billion (Euromonitor International, 2010, p.2). Currently, Qatar wishes to build on its tourism infrastructure to be able to successfully host the football World cup in 2022, which makes it the first Arab country to be able to host such a prestigious global sports event. It had previously hosted the Asian Games in 2006 and has been successful in giving players and organizers sufficient numbers of rooms and hospitality options. Today, Qatar is looking to attract investments in tourism, concentrating mainly on hotels, sports utilities and infrastructure, and hopes to utilize its existing plans to build around tourism industry in the meantime. The question that arises is will Qatar succeed to the level it has targeted or will it only lag behind the other Gulf States? We take a roundabout look at the various tourism related factors in Qatar that will complete this analysis. Visitor Market – The most important section of tourists that visit Qatar regularly comprises business professionals who are flying enroute Qatar or visiting the country for important corporate meetings. Qatar as a culture has a warmth and flavor of its own which is distinct from other Gulf emirates. Visitors immediately feel the warmth and wish to explore different heritage destinations of Qatar. Over the past five years, Qatar has experienced a steady growth in number of tourists most of whom have resulted from the visiting businessmen crowd, revisiting the land with their friends and family to enjoy the beauty of scenic locales and the individual folklore present in the country. In short, Qatar experiences visitors who come to the country for business, lifestyle or sports tourism, and has to keep in mind their specific needs to build an industry out of the three fields. Major demographics from which tourists come include gulf countries surrounding Qatar including a mammoth percentage from Saudi Arabia. Tourists also hail from France and a couple of Western countries (Rogers, 2013, p.64). Tourism Products – While there are limited tourist attractions in Qatar, the awesome stadiums built to host the Asian Games and the same being built or expanded to host the World Cup 2022, are major attractions in Doha and around. Qatar has come around as a distinct culture but does not have memorabilia unique to their folklore available in their markets and tourist spots. Therefore, the main tourism products that Qatar has to offer today are its scenic locals, stadiums and international sports villages, great hospitality and unique cuisine. The government has paid extra attention in increasing the number of hotels and restaurants at popular tourist areas. In 2010 alone, the number of rooms added to the existing number was 2,500. There has been steady growth over the past couple of years and at such a rate, Qatar is soon going to outshine Abu Dhabi in hospitality and tourism capacity. Supply and Demand – The main aspect of tourism that Qatar needs to solve is in its supply and demand capacities. While the number of tourists is expected to increase as 2022 approaches, the different classes of tourism will modify too. The three main types of tourism that Qatar will hope to handle are business tourism, lifestyle tourism and sports tourism. Tourist Characteristics – Most of the tourists in Qatar come for a five day or a seven day stay, explore the different possibilities offered by the country and move on to their next tourism destination. These tourists are often visiting the country as part of a gulf tourism or world tourism package. Qatar wishes to change this characteristic and offer tourists more reason to stay in the country for longer. Their latest projects and plans direct towards ambitious arrangements that involve the use of billions US dollars worth of investment. It is indeed very heartening to see that private equity holders of the country are investing in such massive projects. Tourism Trends – As mentioned earlier, the main tourism trends seen in Qatar include growth of business, sports and lifestyle tourism, mammoth tourism projects and plans, and increased investment in hospitality and hotel industry. What Are The Actions Taken So Far? Understanding all the above main aspects of tourism development in Qatar, the administration and proprietors of tourism investments have taken up the initiative to differentiate different plans that will help sort out the supply and demand crisis in the industry today. The following actions have been taken to speed up the growth of tourism. Recognition of MICE elements: Meetings, Incentivised travel, Conferences and Exhibition (MICE) are crucial factors that determine how well a business schedule completes for a company. Doha has been recognized and optimized for MICE elements alongside other venues like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Qatar MICE Development Institute has started commendable work in this field (Jones & Haven, 2005, p.42). Lifestyle Tourism : The government has already ramped up the different avenues it has to offer excellent solutions to lifestyle tourists in Qatar. Ambitious projects to develop villas, resorts, spas, and exotic golf courses have been taken up. Qatar Entertainment City, Pearl Island Project, and other ambitious hotel projects form a part of this investment extravaganza. Sports Tourism: Aiming to become one of the most sought after sport event cities, Doha has been revved up using a strategic growth curve for various sports events. Doha has been a host to several major multi-national events like ExxonMobil Tennis Open, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Qatar Masters Cup for golf and Asian Cup Football 2011. The sports tourism industry in Qatar is being governed by the QTA (Qatar Tourism Authority), the Qatar Olympic Committee and the QSI (Qatar Sports Investment). These bodies have together created massive sports venues like the Khalifa Zone, the Aspire Zone, Lusail International Race Circuit and the Doha golf course (QTA, 2014, p.7). The Hamad International Airport is being created to improve mobility and transport of foreign nationals who visit the land for sports events (Weed & Bull, 2012, p.34). A massive sports project of USD 4 billion has been taken up to create an international football stadium that will have temperature maintained at 28 degree Celsius at the time of World Cup 2022. Latest climate technologies will be used to achieve this temperature regulation . The main strategy that will help Qatar achieve all its tourism related goals is a multidimensional plan that integrates elements of development in all three main tourism industries in Qatar. Here are the major recommendations that come around as a conclusion of this analytical report. Recommendations Figure 1: Recommendation of Percentage Investments in Tourism Development Strategy (A,B,C and D) in Qatar for the Next 20 Years A. The recently concluded workshop in Strategy in Tourism Development that involved Qatar Tourism Authority and United Nations World Tourism Organisation showed that Qatar is serious in its Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 in which it aims to become one of the leading tourism areas in the Gulf in line with Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Multiple workshops that train individuals and organizations to build target tourism industry in the country is a great help in developing the Qatar and Mena regions as world class tourist attractions (Gulf Times, 2014, p.1). As shown in Fig. 1, the investment percentage to be dedicated towards this strategy must be at 80 percent of total investments. B. The World Cup 2022 is major landmark in the history of Qatar and must not be missed out as it is going to attract participants from leading football playing nations. The need to keep the hospitality and sports utility standards high, calls for use of cutting edge technology and Qatar needs to work tirelessly towards achieving the best in order to stand out from the crowd of imminent Gulf countries who are already major tourist attractions. As shown in Fig. 1, the percentage of tourism industry investments dedicated towards this event should be around seventy five percent of the total amount. C. Brand development is a great way to get noticed and Qatar has all the elements in its Arabic history and culture to stand out from the rest of the Gulf attractions. Key elements that can help in developing the brand that Qatar could stand for, other than Arabic heritage is the friendly populace, the safety aspects and the unending promise of swift economic growth in the country. As shown in Fig. 1, the percentage investment in this strategy should be around forty percent of the total amount available for tourism development. D. Encourage Inbound Tourism: With a definite GDP that boasts of rich and affluent Qatari populations, the government should encourage domestic tourism as local populations have appreciable disposable incomes that can be channelized to the tourism industry. As shown in Fig. 1, the percentage investment to this strategy should be sixty percent of the total amount. Conclusion: Qatar has a strong chance of becoming the next powerful business and tourism destination in the Gulf in the coming decades. Their strategic planning and statistical predictions are accurately placed and therefore, the promise of having a grand tourism year by the time World Cup 2022 dawns on the city of Doha is not far from realization. As discussed in the report, Qatar only needs to concretize its plans in developing tourism using a multidimensional approach so that the hotels and utilities created for the upcoming football World Cup will be used even after the main event is over. With its role in world tourism Qatar is going to achieve international fame if it realizes its goals. References: Euromonitor International (2010). Qatar’s ambitions to develop its tourism sector. Euromonitor International. Accessed on 27th November, 2014 from: http://blog.euromonitor.com/2010/06/qatars-ambitions-to-develop-its-tourism-sector.html Gulf Times (2014). Strategies to boost tourism discussed at QTA workshop. Gulf Times. Accessed on 27th November, 2014 from; http://www.gulf-times.com/qatar/178/details/392105/strategies-to-boost-tourism-discussed-at-qta-workshop Hong, S. W. C. (2008). Competitiveness in the Tourism Sector: a comprehensive approach from Economic and Management Points. Springer. Jones, E., & Haven, C. (2005). Tourism SMEs, service quality, and destination competitiveness. CABI. QTA (2014). Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030/Q&A. Qatar Tourism Authority. Accessed on 27th November, 2014 from: http://corporate.qatartourism.gov.qa/Portals/0/QAENGLISHFINAL.pdf Rogers, T. (2013). Conferences and conventions: A global industry (Vol. 11). Routledge. Weed, M., & Bull, C. (2012). Sports Tourism 2e: Participants, Policy and Providers. Routledge. Read More