UNWTO has joined Qatar Tourism to recognize the individuals and businesses leading the way in building a better sector in the country.
The inaugural Qatar Tourism Awards, developed in partnership with UNWTO, focused on three principal categories: Service Excellence, Cultural Experiences and Smart Solutions. At the awards ceremony, Qatar Tourism Awards also announced a surprise category, the Community Contribution Award, to recognise individual community members who have gone above and beyond to display hospitality and provide exemplary services to visitors.
The winners were announced at a ceremony that took place at Raffles Doha, attended by Basmah Al-Mayman, Regional Director for the Middle East at UNTWO and His Excellency Saad Bin Ali Al Kharji, Chairman of Qatar Tourism. The winners reflected the broad and diverse nature of the tourism sector, including destinations, experiences, hotels and hospitality establishments. They also recognized those leading the way in building a more innovative and sustainable tourism, in line with UNWTO's key priorities for the sector.
The full list of all the winners can be found on the Qatar Tourism Awards website.
Tourism leaders from across the Middle East have met to guide the sector’s development across the region, including as a driver of inclusive employment and rural development.
The 49th meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commission for the Middle East brought high-level delegations from 12 countries together at the Dead Sea, in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, to assess the current state of tourism in the region and advance shared plans for its future.
For the Middle East, tourism represents an unrivalled driver of employment and opportunity, as well as economic diversification and resilience
According to UNWTO data, the Middle East is the first global region to exceed pre-pandemic numbers of international tourist arrivals so far in 2023.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: "Tourism has shown its resilience in the face of crisis. And now, recovery is well underway – with all the challenges and opportunities this brings. For the Middle East, tourism represents an unrivalled driver of employment and opportunity, as well as economic diversification and resilience."
Participants, representing 12 of the 13 UNWTO Member States in the region, and including 7 Ministers of Tourism, benefitted from a comprehensive overview of the Organization's progress achieving its Programme of Work.:
In line with UNWTO's statutory obligations, Members from the Middle East agreed:
As part of work on tourism for rural development, UNWTO has concluded its first Executive Training for the Middle East Programme.
Under the theme 'Tourism for Rural Development: A Practical Approach to Strategy and Product Development', the three-day session was held at the UNWTO Regional Office for the Middle East in Riyadh to address the underlying needs for continuous skills development for ensuring up to date learning, adaptation, and innovation.
Sultan AlMusallam, Deputy Minister for International Affairs, Saudi Ministry of Tourism said: "This training programme demonstrates how determined and keen the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UNWTO are to promote the role of the Regional Office for the Middle East, and to provide every support and assistance possible to the Member States of the Organization in the region."
Opening the programme, Zoritsa Urosevic, UNWTO Executive Director said: "In the post-pandemic world, the role of tourism in rural development is more relevant than ever. Rural tourism has a high potential to empower local communities, stimulate local economic growth and social change."
"Our Member States see rural tourism as a priority and we trust this training will support them for continuous learning, adaptation, and innovation. It aims to provide them with the adequate knowledge and capacities to plan and manage tourism in rural territories in a way that contributes to inclusive, sustainable, and resilient development," she added.
The training session was aimed at managers in charge of rural tourism in National Tourism Administrations from across the region. Around 35 participants from 10 countries joined present, representing Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Sessions focused on issues such as incorporating sustainability dimensions in tourism planning, setting indicators to measure rural tourism strategies, dealing with the specificities of the rural tourism offer and demand, understanding the concept of community engagement through community-based tourism and conducting practical exercises on experiences related to gastronomy, adventure, cultural and ecotourism.
The UNWTO Tourism for Rural Development Programme was designed with the vision of making tourism a driver of rural development and well-being. It aims to advance the role of tourism in valuing and safeguarding rural territories along with their associated landscapes, knowledge systems, natural and cultural diversity, local values, and activities. The Programme also aims to promote innovative and transformative approaches for the development of tourism in rural destinations that contribute to the three pillars of sustainability – economic, social, and environmental – in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
