Why can’t we have our own summer fest? Tuesday, 05 July 2011 05:00

Arabic newspapers here carried a half-page ad yesterday making the “Summer in Abu Dhabi” sales pitch.

And this was not their first campaign in Qatar. Last month, a team of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority came and organised a press conference here to promote the Abu Dhabi summer festival. Hotels and resorts have been offering discounts and packages as well as showcasing different attractions and activities for families, especially the famous Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world’s biggest indoor theme park.

Dubai has been no less active in promoting its summer activities and their festival in the media in Qatar.

While neighbours have been actively promoting their tourism attraction in the country, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has remained silent for months and has not announced any plans for the summer or Ramadan for those not planning trips abroad.

And at a time when schools are closed for summer and kids looking for pastimes. A lot of families are not travelling abroad this time because of the short gap between school holidays and Ramadan. The Arab Spring has affected travel to countries in the region that were usually considered attractive tourist spots.

I was, therefore, surprised to read the first edition of a 5-part column by the Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority in a local Arabic daily yesterday. This is the first time a government official of his stature has written a column in the local print media.

He talked about the national strategy to develop tourism in Qatar and how it can contribute to the development of the country’s natural resources and human capital. However, he did not have a word in his column about what tourism activities were to be available in Qatar, especially during the lean summer months.

It’s nice to float ideas, but we also have to consider their implementation. In the last four years, the QTA Chairman has held the post, what has Qatar got to show in the tourism sector? What activities have they come up with to boost tourism in the country?

Are we just going to wait until another trade fair or another watch and jewellery exhibition is organised in Qatar? And we don’t understand whether the Chairman was blaming the government or blaming himself, in the column, for the shortcomings in developing a comprehensive tourism strategy.

We have raised this issue many times, but nothing concrete has been done to address it. It’s no wonder why people abroad see Qatar as a boring, sleepy country.

It’s a shame to see neighbouring countries advertising in Qatar’s local media about summer activities taking place in their countries to lure families from here. And many will be since there is nothing happening in the country.

I’m convinced that most people working with QTA are on a holiday or spending their summer out of the country because they haven’t lined up any events or programmes for summer here. There are no activities being organised by malls, hotels and other establishments during a season when people have the time and would like to have some fun and relax.

Is this lack of activity because QTA hasn’t filled the large number of vacancies they advertised some months ago? Are they still looking to hire Qataris to fill the positions mentioned in their half-page ad or was it only an eyewash to avoid criticism?

We would like to raise the issue with our Prime Minister (in case QTA is reporting to him). If the government is not interested in developing the tourism sector in the country, it’s better to dissolve the QTA.

On behalf of all those who will be spending the summer in Qatar, I request the government to address this issue and do something about QTA before another year passes without anything touristy to look forward to.

The Peninsula