news to use GENERAL Qatar’s sporting chance
BY ALAN ORBELL Qatar might have lost out to London
for the World Athletics Championships in 2017 but having already won the 2022 football World Cup the emirate is also one of the six contenders for the 2020 Olympic Games. The Qatar Tourism Authority’s chairman, Ahmed Abdullah M. Al-Nuaimi, believes that these sporting events are important for Qatar’s tourism development and the entire local region. “Everyone says the different emirates
are competing but we’re complimentary; we simply share a history and culture. "By bringing the 2022 World Cup to
Qatar, we’re helping the whole region and over the next 10/11 years you’ll see a heavy development of visitor numbers going through the destination. By 2022 we’ll have established ourselves as an important player in the tourism market. “Over the last five years we have
really focused on tourism. Just five years ago we had 2500 rooms and today we have 13,000 with some 46 further hotels under construction. We’ll need 80/100,000 rooms by 2022.”
Qatar is learning from others, said Mr
Al-Nuaimi. “We’re filling our calendar with events and are increasing demand through these and by building museums as well as educational, cultural and sports cities. We also have a programme called 48 Hours which encourages people to stopover en route elsewhere.” The UK is Qatar’s leading market for
both business and leisure travellers and a number of April road shows are planned for 2012. A specific UK electronic campaign is also planned.
www.qatartourism.gov.qa
Kenya and Japan target golfers Kenya and Japan are two destinations
that will be promoting their golf product in 2012. The Kenya Golf Marketing Alliance has produced a new guide detailing the country’s 40 golf courses, three new ‘championship’ courses are under construction on the coast and some of Nairobi’s best-known courses are undergoing extensive upgrades which will be completed by 2013. Kitili Mbathi, chairman of the Kenya
Tourist Board, said "no other country can offer the same combination of great golf, nearby wildlife, beautiful beaches and a fascinating culture". Key courses include the Fairmont Mount Kenya Golf Course, where visitors play in the shadow of Mount Kenya, Africa’s second highest peak, and Vipingo Ridge, a 2,500-acre residential golf estate 30km north of Mombasa that winds round the coastline. Meanwhile, last month Japan exhibited
at the International Golf Travel Market (IGTM), for the first time, in Belek, Turkey. Said Kylie Clark, head of PR & marketing, Japan National Tourism
Organization (JNTO), "In recent years, the JNTO has run promotions for skiing in Japan and for Japan’s tropical Okinawa islands. "Moving forward we’d next like to
introduce the world to golf in Japan. The country has around 2,400 golf courses, the most after the USA, and many are known for their beauty and champion- ship standard." Green fees in Japan start from just
4,000 yen (£33) and, with the exception of a few private courses, always welcome visitors. For a free guide to golf in Japan, email
Kylie Clark at JNTO’s London office on
kylie@jnto.co.uk.
www.magicalkenya.com
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