QTA chairman Issa Mohammed al-Mohannadi distributes certificates to participants.

The Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) is mulling to integrate within its plans the policy recommendations and product development proposals submitted by participants of a five-day workshop on “strategy in tourism
destination” held in Doha.
Some 36 participants from Qatar and several other countries, including Mena region, have attended the five-day workshop organised by QTA and the United Nations World Travel Organisation (UNWTO) Themis Foundation.
QTA chairman Issa Mohammed al-Mohannadi, together with senior representatives of UNWTO, led the awarding of certificates to participants in a simple closing ceremony.
Hassan Abdulrahman al-Ibrahim, strategy development director at QTA, and the head of the tourism industry development committee told reporters that all the recommendations and proposals were shared
during the final session.
He noted that the workshop included visits to existing and potential tourist destinations in a bid to study the sites and assess the potential for growth.
“There was a practical part in the programme where participants have been grouped into three and each group visited heritage sites and potential tourism destinations in Qatar,” said al-Ibrahim. Some of the places included Al Zubara and villages in the northern part of the country.
The workshop aimed to provide participants with the needed knowledge, skills and tools for building successful destination tourism strategies. It is part of the second phase of a co-operation agreement between QTA and UNWTO signed in February.
Organisers had invited experts from Egypt, Hungary, the United Kingdom as well as from UNWTO while some of the participants were from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Morocco, Yemen, Sudan, and Nigeria. Local speakers and some participants are members of the Qatar Museums Authority, the Qatar Olympic Committee, Katara, Qatari destination management companies and tour operators, and QTA.
“This is one of the initiatives that we have already launched in developing human capacity in the tourism sector,” al-Ibrahim said, adding that they would be organising two more courses this year.
The first will be on tourism product development in September and the second will be on investment and public private partnership in December.
Echoing his statements, UNWTO Themis Foundation executive director Omar Valdez stressed that the week-long workshop was not only about theory but also about practice.
“It was very enriching and having this lecture together with high-level participants from Qatar and the region making it an international forum for discussion on tourism and strategy also,” he added.
Valdez said they would continue delivering education and training activities to all UNWTO member states from this region and other regions also, describing it as “one of the best ways to improve competitiveness and sustainability.”
QTA and Stenden University also launched Tour Guide Licence Programme in a bid to produce professional tour guides for Qatar who will be knowledgeable about the nation’s rich history, culture and heritage including tourism sites.