Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has announced that the Qatar Summer Festival (QSF) officially started Monday, and will continue until Sept. 27, 2014. Citizens, residents, and visitors from the region will witness first of their kind exciting events and entertainment activities. Qatar Summer Festival 2014 seeks to encourage family tourism and promote Qatar as a unique family holiday destination. This is a role that QTA plays in cooperation with many local and international partners to market Qatar's tourism attractions to the local and international audience and make Qatar the preferred tourism destination for families. "We welcome all citizens, residents, and visitors from the region to Qatar Summer Festival 2014 where they can enjoy dozens of wonderful entertainment activities, games, and festivities that QTA and its partners will offer over almost two months," said Rashed Al Qurese, Director of Marketing and Promotions at QTA. "This is part of our efforts to activate tourism offerings and products across Qatar, QTA seeks to increase hotel occupancy rate during the slow summer season, and the activities will take place not only in Doha, but also in Al Wakra and Al Khor, where several events have been organized," added Al Qurese. QTA expects that a large number of people will visit Qatar this summer in light of the promotional campaign that QTA launched in the GCC. Various media were used in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates to promote the festival. The entertainment and cultural activities that will be offered within the festival will help show visitors what Qatar has to offer all year long and demonstrate to partners how such events can attract tourist attention. Al Qurese said “Qatar Summer Festival follows directly on the heels of the greatly successful Eid Al Fitr festival, the results of which will be published in the next few days. The Summer festival is also part of QTA's endeavors to activate the National Tourism Sector 2030 Strategy, which QTA launched in February to serve as the road map for the development of the tourism industry in Qatar and to guide QTA in its efforts to promote Qatar as an international tourism destination with deep cultural roots.” The Qatar Summer Festival includes the following activities: Family Fun, an integrated entertainment city with various fun-filled and exciting games and rides at the Doha Exhibition Center; Fountain Fun, on the Corniche across from Al Murjan Restaurant, where dancing fountain shows are presented every evening; Adventure Fun in Al Khor where visitors can enjoy outdoor activities such as bike riding, kayaking and other games, the tickets for which can be purchased from the tent outside Al Khor Mall; and Flash Fun in Al Wakra where families can enjoy the inflatable Aqua Park on the beach. QTA will also organize a Shopping Fun activity from 17 August to 13 September in the Pearl Qatar, the Mall, City Center, Hyatt Plaza, and Al Khor Mall where shoppers can enjoy special discounts and raffle draws on prizes worth of 2.5 million riyals and including 8 Audi cars. The festival concludes with a Disney On Ice show at the Qatar National Convention Center in September. Qatar Summer Festival provides an opportunity to increase the number of tourists to Qatar. QTA is eager to promote the tourism sector and show Qataris, residents, and tourists from the region and the world what Qatar can offer them to enjoy an authentic holiday experience and hospitality. Tourist data for the first quarter of 2014 showed that approximately 380,000 people visited Qatar during the quarter, more than half of them from the GCC countries. Visitors from the region and the world in the first quarter totaled 387,022, representing a 9 percent year-on-year increase. Arrivals from the GCC countries rose by 5 percent, with Saudi Arabia being the largest single source of visitors with 188,000. Arrivals from Kuwait rose by a staggering 42 percent. The average hotel occupancy rate rose from 68 percent to 75 percent, and the total revenue at 4 and 5 -star hotels increased by 5.4 percent, reaching a total of QR999.4 million for the quarter. Some 125 hotels currently under construction are expected to provide addition 21,812 hotel rooms. — SG
