The Cultural Village Foundation-Katara has recently launched its new website and mobile application in both Arabic and English as part of a new initiative aimed at showcasing the acceleration of cultural, innovative, and intellectual activities at Katara.

The online initiative will shed more light on the constant outpouring of programmes on offer across the Cultural Village, while providing an online platform which interested parties can use to remain abreast of cultural activities within both Qatar and abroad.

The website was launched during a press conference overseen by Katara general manager Dr Khaled bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti. It was attended by media specialists, journalists, and social media followers of the Cultural Village.

“Katara’s new website was designed and developed with only the most cutting-edge technology, offering new user-friendly communication services to Katara’s guests. These individuals can access the facilities and events in Katara through a helpful Google Map-guided system.

“The website also offers its users more interactive features that provide every utility necessary, making clear that the restructuring of the website’s interface was based entirely on making it even more user-friendly,” said al-Sulaiti.

He said Katara’s new website was designed to reflect the wide spectrum of taste present within Katara’s vast audience, with features representative of all age groups who frequent the Cultural Village.

“This in turn enhances the online positioning of Katara due to the ease provided for getting in touch with an increasing number of people interested in issues related to culture, literature, and the arts. The website will satisfy the needs of Katara’s visitors by providing them with information, news, images, and videos of Katara and its many events,” he said.

In addition to hosting information related to cultural events, as well as the facilities and amenities found at Katara, the new website bears a modern design that is compatible with all social media platforms and smart phone operating systems. The interface of the new website was programmed according to the navigation experience of its users.

A daily newsletter is an additional feature present with the new website in which details about upcoming events found at Katara will be published. This permanent news section within the website has been designed in an attractive way based on the display of images related to each event featured.

Yet another remarkable component of the new website is the ability it will provide to process transactions from all over the world. This includes booking halls, or obtaining permits for shooting films or television programmes that some cultural and media institutions may require. Visitors may also communicate with Katara through its website to inquire about receiving additional information.

The new online initiative also bears the inauguration of an application for smartphones compatible with Apple and Android devices. This application will offer guests of Katara additional services related to helping them benefit from the facilities and services available at the Cultural Village, such as with arranging parking.

By using this feature, visitors will be able to locate their cars during peak hours. Visitors will be prompted to record the details of the location where their cars are parked, after which Katara’s application will help with locating the vehicle upon departure.

Katara’s mobile application will also offer visitors a 3D map to help with finding their destination within the Cultural Village whilst also navigating Katara via convenient shortcuts.

The “augmented reality” feature within the application offers visitors all of the information needed for different events being hosted in every building within Katara. By pointing a smartphone camera at the desired location, the application will display a short description of the event being held inside each building.

Additionally, the visitor can navigate a list of the cultural societies, restaurants, and cafes within Katara with the possibility of contacting each location for additional information.

The application will also notify users about all ongoing cultural activities, further signaling the forward thinking nature of Katara’s latest offering for Qatar and its many international visitors.