Doha: As an official member of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Qatar was represented by the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) at the 36th meeting of the UNWTO Commission for the Middle East.
The Qatari delegation, headed by Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi, Chairman of QTA, attended the annual meeting which concluded yesterday at the headquarters of UNWTO in Madrid Spain.
The UNWTO annual meeting provided the Middle East Commission with an overview of the long-term prospects for Tourism development, globally and in the Middle East – North Africa region, as well as the opportunities and challenges the region will face in the future.
UNWTO’s forecasting study “Tourism Towards 2030” revealed that growth in international tourism will continue at a moderate pace with the number of international tourist arrivals increasing to 43 million tourists a year on average and climbing to 1.8 billion tourists by 2030. The Middle East region is expected to capture 8 percent of the 1.8 billion with a steady growth of 4 million tourist arrivals per year.
On this occasion, QTA Chairman Issa Al Mohannadi said: “QTA’s participation underlines its mission to place Qatar on the world’s map and take a leading position in the region by fully utilizing the country’s key memberships of the world tourism industry’s key regional and international commissions. The Middle East’s tourism industry has grown considerably over the past few years.”
The Peninsula
