Qatar Travel Mart (QTM) 2023 was held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, with Qatar Tourism as the strategic partner.
The event took place at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC), from November 20 to 22, under the theme ‘Exploring Places, Peoples, and Cultures.’ This year’s edition welcomed participants from over 60 countries, alongside 100 hosted buyers and more than 9,000 visitors.
The second edition of the exhibition saw more than 40 thought leaders, experts and influential stakeholders take part. This year debuted Qatar’s first Global Village, which connected different regions under one roof – showcasing heritage, philosophies, and more. Visit Saudi was the key sponsor for Qatar Travel Mart’s second edition.
Saudi Arabia
With its shared cultural values, proximity and an array of premier assets and unique leisure and hospitality offerings, Qatar continues to be a highly attractive popular world-class tourist destination for GCC visitors, especially from Saudi Arabia. Visitors from Saudi Arabia remain the top source market for international visitors to Qatar this year, contributing to nearly a quarter of all arrivals.
Commenting on their participation, Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO and a Member of the Board, Saudi Tourism Authority, said: “Saudi is the world’s fastest-growing tourism destination and was recently named by the World Tourism Organisation as the most visited country by tourists in the Arab world in 2022 – and Saudi’s Red Sea Project has just been hailed one of Conde Nast Traveller’s ‘24 Best Places to Go in 2024’. This partnership will help to inspire more visitors from the region to enjoy Saudi’s diverse landscapes and packed cultural and sporting events calendar.
“Winter Season festivities have kicked off across our many cities with more than 11,000 events in the coming months.
“It’s also never been easier to visit Saudi thanks to initiatives including the eVisa programme, the Stopover Visa and the Nusuk platform which now seamlessly issues Umrah eVisas – and the unified GCC visa that is set to launch in the coming years.”
GCC countries have unanimously approved the plan for a unified Gulf tourist visa, it was announced at the 40th meeting of the GCC Interior Ministers in Muscat in early November. The unified visa scheme is expected to be implemented in two years as the latest achievement of the six-member bloc.
Looking ahead
With state-of-the-art facilities, seamless public transportation networks, open tourism visa policies and a strategic central location, Qatar is quickly emerging as a prime destination for major global events.
Looking ahead, Qatar will host several, major international events including the MotoGP – Grand Prix of Qatar, AFC Asian Cup Qatar (January 12 – February 10, 2024) and the world’s biggest technology conference, Web Summit Qatar (February 26 – 29, 2024).