The programme is training 39 participants from Qatar and the Mena region on the key skills needed to build successful destination tourism strategies. It is part of the second phase of a co-operation agreement between QTA and the UNWTO, signed in February 2014.

In addition to providing participants with the essential knowledge, skills and tools, the week-long training workshop is also hosting a discussion forum on the matters surrounding destination tourism strategies.

Senior representatives of the UNWTO as well as tourism professionals are leading the sessions, emphasising situational analysis, strategic planning models and tourism development strategy. The workshop also includes excursions to existing and potential tourist destinations to study them and assess the potential for growth.

The participants will present their proposals on the final day of the workshop to a panel, which includes representatives from QTA and the UNWTO.

“Developing the tourism human capital in Qatar is one of the key pillars of the Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030, with QTA having already taken concrete steps towards that direction by partnering with leading organisations such as the UNWTO,” said Hassan al-Ibrahim, director of Strategy Development and head of the Tourism Industry Development Committee at QTA.

The workshop is hosting lecturers and participants from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Morocco, Yemen, Sudan, Nigeria and the UNWTO.

Local lecturers and participants are members of Qatar Museums Authority, the Qatar Olympic Committee, Katara, Qatar destination management companies and tour operators, and QTA.

Omar Valdez, executive director of the UNWTO Themis Foundation, said: “With this regional course, QTA has promptly addressed the training needs of the main stakeholders in the country, as well as opening it to other representatives from the Mena region, thus making this training activity an international forum for discussion and exchange of knowledge and experiences.”