Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), after opening office in India in May earlier this year, conducted its first ever B2B workshop in India in Mumbai and New Delhi recently. Top Qatari suppliers including St. Regis Doha, The Ritz Carlton, Sheraton Grand Doha, Grand Hyatt, Mondrian Doha, Hotel Crowne Plaza, Radisson Blu and The Torch Doha hotels; Dohabus, a hop-on hop-off bus sightseeing tour service provider and leading Qatari DMCs like 365 Adventures, Travel Designer Group and FAL Travelmart Travel & Tours, among others, attended the Qatar Tourism’s maiden India road show showcasing country’s various tourism offerings and attractions to trade buyers in Mumbai on August 7 followed by a similar trade engagement workshop on August 8 with buyers in the national capital.
About 14 Qatari suppliers attended the first ever road show that was attended by more than hundred trade buyers in each city. Qatar’s recent initiatives and trade meeting is aimed at increasing the B2B engagement between the Qatari suppliers and Indian buyers to help develop the fast growing Indian outbound market in order to grow its share of India’s outbound pie. The country has also made itself visa-free for the Indian national.
The delegation was led by Jennifer Beggs, International Tourism Marketing & Promotions, Qatar Tourism Authority. Beggs made a detailed presentation showcasing Qatar’s various cultural and tourism attractiveness.
QTA’s maiden road show comes close on the heels of the NTO opening a representative office in Mumbai, India, to tap into one of the fastest growing outbound travel market in the world and diversify and grow its visitor source markets. QTA appointed the leading aviation, tourism and hospitality representation and marketing company Aviareps as its tourism representation office in India in May earlier this year.
Connected by over 167 weekly flights operated by Qatar Airlines, Jet Airways, Air India Express and IndiGo Airlines, between Doha and various Indian cities, Qatar welcomed over 110,000 visitors in the first quarter of 2018. Qatar Airways alone operates 100 weekly flights connecting Doha with 13 India cities.
