Qatar Tourism enters a partnership with Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) UK & Ireland, to promote the destination in the region and with CLIA’s wider community of cruise lines, travel agents and stakeholders. Qatar Tourism will be one of the headline sponsors of the CLIA Selling Cruise Day taking place in Southampton on November 4, 2021. It will subsequently sponsor the annual CLIA Cruise Forum in December 2021.
Berthold Trenkel from Qatar Tourism said: “This partnership is part of Qatar Tourism’s ongoing strategy to diversify the tourism sector in Qatar and attract new customer segments. Cruise is an important pillar of our tourism strategy – and we’ve signed a number agreements already for the coming season – and Qatar made serious investments into cruise infrastructure such as the new cruise terminal that will be ready to welcome visitors for the FIFA World Cup 2022. As Qatar re-opens its borders to visitors, and festivals and events resume, we look forward to welcoming back cruise travellers. Safety remains paramount, and all initiatives are backed by the Ministry of Public Health. We are eager to showcase our range of offerings which are grounded in Service Excellence, with a range of assets including world class hotels, restaurants, and stunning beaches.”
Andy Harmer, CLIA UK & Ireland Managing Director, said: “We’re very excited to welcome Qatar Tourism to the CLIA family. Their support for the trade is a clear indication they are looking to build positive cruise momentum. The region was proving increasingly popular with cruisers and we’re all looking forward to seeing ships start visiting the exceptional facilities of the Doha port and its surroundings again.”
In 2019/2020, Qatar welcomed 207,000 cruise visitors to Doha. With the Doha port undergoing large scale refurbishment recently, the destination has set its sights on exceeding this number moving forward in the 2021/2022 season, starting November.