SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2016

Travel & TourismStrong business

demand forOoredoo Passport

Qatar Airways & QTA launch new transit visa offering travellers up to 96 hours to explore country

PAGE | 2 PAGE | 6-7

SPONSORMAIN SPONSOR

Qatar welcomed 2.18 million visitors in the first nine months of 2016, including 1,087,846 Gulf Coop-

eration Council (GCC) nationals, according to Qatar Tourism Authority’s (QTA) Tourism Per-formance Summary for the third quarter (Q3) of 2016.

Saudi Arabia remains the largest source market and is also responsible for the bulk of the growth recorded in the number of GCC visitor arrivals, up 7% from 2015. A total of 746,598 Saudi visitors arrived in Qatar between January and September 2016; an 8% increase compared to the same period last year. Sub-stantial growth also was evident from the United Arab Emirates (17%), while arrivals from Bah-rain and Kuwait showed an increase rate of 3% and 2% respectively.

According to the report, vis-itor arrivals growth during the third quarter (Q3) of 2016 has increased in comparison to Q1 and Q2. This reflects, in part, the impact of the two Eid Celebra-tions in Qatar events and the Qatar Summer Festival that took place through the whole month of August, helping to attract vis-itors in a typically off-peak season for Qatar.

Upward trends in visitor arrivals in recent months tend to reflect optimism as a further growth rate is expected in the final quarter of the year. This will be driven in part by the begin-ning of the cruise season - which will bring approximately 30 ships to Qatar’s ports between Octo-ber 2016 and April 2017.

Additionally, QTA’s collaboration with the Ministry of Interior and Qatar Airways to facilitate visi-tors’ entry to Qatar is expected to further improve arrival trends in the near future.

Meanwhile, hotel occupancy and average room rates were lower compared to the same period in 2015 with an average of 61% across all hotels and hotel apartments through the end of Q3 2016. The decline comes after a 7.1% net increase in the number of available rooms. Average room rates (ARR) across all hotels and hotel apartments was 491 QAR, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) was 300 QAR. Consist-ent with usual trends, the highest ARR and RevPAR levels continue to be recorded by the 5-Star and Deluxe Hotel Apartment

segments. QTA is continuing efforts to attract regional and international visitors, through placing special emphasis on

working with investors and part-ners to diversify Qatar’s tourism products. Efforts include broad-ening QTA’s international

presence, particularly in markets that are expected to increase the arrivals to Qatar in the coming years. In this past quarter, QTA

has opened representative offices in Istanbul and New York, bring-ing the total number of QTA’s international offices to eight.

Qatar receives more than2 million visitors

Book a stopover in Qatar during

your next holiday

PAGE | 8

Pic: Sajad Sahir

CHAIRMANSheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Shafi

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMohammed Salim Mohamed

SUPPLEMENT COORDINATORAhmed Eltigani Idris

2

DESIGNAbraham Augusthy

PRODUCTIONViswanath Sarma

IMAGE PROCESSINGMohd Sajad Sahir

TypesettingDeepak John

OOREDOO announced a successful test of next generation Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) technology,

which will enable Qatar to achieve speeds of up to 10Gbps on the Ooredoo Supernet — the fastest Internet speeds ever made available for homes in Qatar. With this result, Ooredoo joins a select group of operators to have successfully pilot tested the new technology in a controlled environment, demonstrating its

network leadership. Importantly, Ooredoo achieved this milestone within just six months of launching 1Gbps Ooredoo Fibre services, as the company continues to enhance the Ooredoo Supernet. In October, Ooredoo was named as having the ‘Best Operator Network’ at the 2016 Telecom World Middle East Awards, in part due to its on-going investment in network infrastructure, and last week it received the ‘Network Optimization Award’ at the CommsMEA Awards in

Dubai. Ooredoo plans to launch the 10Gbps Ooredoo Supernet service within months.

Waleed Al Sayed, Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo, said: “Ooredoo is committed to providing the best possible network infrastructure for people across Qatar, and this successful test represents another quantum leap forward for the Ooredoo Supernet. We will continue this process of enhancements and upgrades to ensure that the Ooredoo Supernet delivers the

very best solutions and services for the people of Qatar.

“The move demonstrates how quickly Ooredoo is enhancing the nationwide Ooredoo Supernet and delivering future-proof Internet speeds for its customers,” he added.

Ooredoo’s next generation 10Gbps Fibre connection will provide 10 times the current available fibre speeds in Qatar, and will enable customers to download a HD movie faster than ever, and enjoy a seamless

experience for services such as virtual reality. Customers will also be able to watch live Ultra High Definition TV (UHDTV) and deploy a range of smart home services.

The upgrade to 10Gbps, alongside other significant enhancements to network infrastructure, will support Ooredoo’s broader strategy to introduce 5G services, offer 8K TV technology for entertainment fans, and help to make Qatar the best-connected country in the world.

Ooredoo enjoyed success at the CommsMEA Awards in Dubai last

week, with Ooredoo compa-nies winning four top honours including the “IPTV Service of the Year” for Qatar’s Ooredoo tv service; the “Network Opti-mization Award” for Ooredoo and Nokia’s inspiring initiative to enhance the Ooredoo Supernet in Qatar; and “Tele-coms Technology Investment of the Year” for Ooredoo Oman’s commitment to pro-viding quality coverage to meet the fast-evolving com-munications needs of the Sultanate.

In addition, Asiacell, part of Ooredoo Group, won the “CSR Campaign of the Year” jointly with Ericsson and the International Rescue Commit-tee for their “Connect to Learn” project in Iraq. The awards were presented to operators, regulators and other technol-ogy and service providers in recognition of their achieve-ments in ensuring that the Middle East and Africa region stays at the frontier of digital innovation.

The ‘IPTV Service of the Year’ award honoured Oore-doo’s next generation Ooredoo tv service, which was the first

4K entertainment service to launch in the region.

The crystal-clear Ooredoo tv service was launched in February 2016 and was designed as an evolution in home entertainment services, combining apps, on-demand and live television in one easy-to-use box. Utilising the powerful fibre connection of Ooredoo’s Supernet, Ooredoo tv offers incredible 4K TV viewing quality, so that view-ers can enjoy a high definition experience even on the larg-est screen. For Ooredoo and Nokia, winning the inaugural “Network Optimization” award is an important testi-mony to the strength, speed and resilience of the Ooredoo Supernet, which the compa-nies have worked together to upgrade throughout 2016.

Under its Supernet initia-tive, one of the most significant network evolutions in Qatar’s history, Ooredoo partnered with Nokia to deploy it’s LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation technology to offer subscrib-ers with compatible mobile devices up to 375 megabits-per-second speeds in busy areas of Doha.

Ooredoo and Nokia have also worked to deploy Nokia’s

leading 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G+ LTE radio and core network tech-nologies in 2016, so that Ooredoo can expand its Super-net experience across the country and deliver the high-est speeds and quality to the growing number of data users.

Ooredoo Oman received the “Telecoms Technology Invest-ment of the Year Award” for its on-going invest in mobile and fixed networks across the Sul-tanate. The company has invested significantly in enhanc-ing our 4G Internet quality and coverage in 2016 and has enhanced its fibre optic network to span 5,500 km and cover more than 100,000 households.

Today, Ooredoo’s mobile network geographical cover-age is high compared to other countries of a similar size, reaching out to 99 percent of the population to serve cus-tomers even in sparsely populated areas.

In all, Ooredoo Group and its companies were nominated for 14 awards at the prestig-ious event, reflecting Ooredoo’s innovation in a range of fields, including net-work development, digital lifestyle, marketing and cus-tomer service.

Ooredoo has seen a sharp rise in the number of companies deploying the

Ooredoo Passport for their employees in 2016, after the launch of new roaming options for businesses and driven by the higher number of traveling executives from Qatar.

The Ooredoo Passport, which provides 100 roaming minutes for receiving and mak-ing calls, 1GB of roaming mobile data, and an extra 1GB of roam-ing data in GCC, gives businesses an affordable and measurable way of enabling travelling employees to stay in contact when overseas.

To offer extra convenience, the Ooredoo Passport can be subscribed to at any time via SMS, the Ooredoo App, or through your Account Manager. Companies can also order mul-tiple quantities of Ooredoo Passport Cards which can be distributed across their workforce.

As multiple cards can be activated at the same time, Ooredoo Passport Cards offer businesses a way to provide employees with more roaming allowance as and when they need it. To ensure affordable

roaming options for those trav-elling for longer periods, Ooredoo has introduced the Ooredoo Monthly Passport. The Monthly Passport offers more data and minutes, and is perfect for employees travelling outside of Qatar for more than seven days, or for business customers

on Shahry who want a bigger communications allowance when abroad. With the Monthly Passport, users enjoy 300 roam-ing minutes and 4GB of roaming mobile data, and an extra 4GB of roaming data in GCC, all for just QR 350.

The Ooredoo Passport is available in over 70 countries and customers can use their roaming allowance within Ooredoo’s Pass-port network of over 170 roaming partners. For information on Ooredoo Passport Cards and the Ooredoo Monthly Passport visit www.ooredoo.qa/op.

Ooredoo completes tests of fastest-ever 10Gbps speedsUpgrades to Ooredoo Supernet helping to make Qatar one of the best-connected countries in the world

Strong business demand for Ooredoo Passport

Higher volumes of executives staying in-touch as they travel in the region and around the world. Ooredoo wins four honours

at CommsMEA Awards 2016

Ooredoo upgrades desert network for improved camping experienceOoredoo has completed

a significant network enhancement pro-

gramme across popular campsites and desert areas in Qatar to enable customers to get the most out of camping season.

Building on the success of its 2015 initiative, ‘Project Desert’, which installed mobile shelters in popular camping locations, Ooredoo has upgraded its network infrastructure in 2016 for a smoother online experience in desert areas.

As part of this process, Ooredoo has introduced the latest 4G+ technology sup-porting CAT9 in all camping locations, to provide enhanced coverage and data speeds.

The company has also

added new mobile sites in some of the most popular camping areas, including Sea-line, Ghawaryah and Khor Al Udaid.

Ooredoo was named as providing the “Best Operator Network” by Telecoms World Middle East in September 2016, and the company is continuing to expand its net-w o r k e n h a n c e m e n t programme to ensure that customers enjoy the best pos-sible experience wherever they are in Qatar.

“Ooredoo continues to upgrade our network to ensure we stay at the cutting-edge in terms of coverage and performance, and also in response to requests from our customers. People have told us that reliable data networks and crystal-clear voice

coverage are a key part of their camping experience, so we’re continuing to upgrade the network to support the increasing number of visitors in Qatar’s desert areas,” said Fatima Sultan Al Kuwari, Director of Community & Public Relations, Ooredoo Qatar.

With the best desert net-work experience, Ooredoo customers can stay connected while exploring and have the peace of mind of knowing that they can contact help in the event of an emergency.

Customers looking to take advantage of the Ooredoo Supernet network at popular camping sites can use an Ooredoo Broadband plan, Shahry or Hala Smart bundle or a Mi-Fi Netgear device to connect to the internet 24/7.

4

World’s largest cruise ship docks in Doha

Azamara Journey docks with 724 tourists on board

The world’s largest pri-vately owned residential yacht, The World, docked in Doha Port, marking the beginning

of this year’s cruise season in Qatar.

The luxury cruise ship visited Doha for the first time and spent two days before heading to Mus-cat. It is 196.3m long, with 12 docks, 280 crew numbers and 165 resi-dences. It provides all entertainment facilities including apartments, swimming pools and other facilities.

Since the launch in 2002 the floating city has visited more than 900 ports in more than 140 countries while sailing on a continuous worldwide itinerary at a maximum speed of 18.5 knots, said a statement yesterday.

This cruise season, which lasts until April next year, has 32 ships registered to arrive at Qatar’s shores, representing a three-fold increase on last season’s figures. Over 50,000 passengers are

expected to arrive aboard these ships. The World is home to 165 residences with patrons from 45 countries living on board as it sails around the world, staying in most ports for several days. Some residents live on board full time while most visit periodically throughout the year.

The luxury cruise ship’s

passengers will be the first to avail of Qatar’s new entry procedure, which quickens the disembarkation of tourists arriving on board cruise ships. Cruise passengers can now disembark within minutes of arriving and immediately begin enjoying their on-shore excursions, the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) said yesterday.

Qatar Port Management Company Mwani Qatar, the exclusive operator of the state’s commercial and tourist ports said that the coordination between the company and its strategic partners (Qatar Tourism Authority, Ministry of Interior, and General Authority of Customs) have contributed to the successful docking of the ship

and the ease of the entry of cruise passen ger s saf e ly an d conveniently.

The redevelopment of Doha Port to transform it into a fully-fledged cruise and leisure yacht terminal facility is underway in full swing in coordination with our s trategic partners and stakeholders, Mwani Qatar said.

Qatar welcomed the second ship this cruise season with the arrival

of luxury cruise ship Azamara Journey in Doha Port early this month.

With 724 tourists aboard, the ship is on a ten-day voyage in the Gulf region. It came from Manama Bahrain and will be heading to Abu Dhabi after a day’s stay in Doha.

Owned and operated by Azamara Club Cruises, the 181m-long mid-sized Azamara Journey is an 11-decked R-class cruise ship built in 2000 carrying more than 400 crew members. It has a range of spacious suites, many of which

feature a private veranda and all offering complimentary butler service.

The first ship which arrived this season was The World- the largest private residential ship -which docked in Doha Port on October 18.

Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) said in a statement yesterday that joint efforts among concerned entities had contributed to facilitate the procedures and provide best services to the passengers.

With close collaboration

among the Ministry of Interior, Mwani Qatar and Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), Qatar is currently i m p l e m e n t i n g n e w procedures to ease the entry of cruise passengers arriving at its ports as huge number of cruise passengers are expected this cruise season.

Azamara Journey is only the second of the 32 ships scheduled to moor in Qatar this cruise season which started last month and ends in April next year. The country’s busiest cruise season yet will see over 50,000 passengers marking

a three-fold increase in the number of

ships and an

increase of over 1,000 percent in the expected number of passengers from the previous season.

Under the new procedure, a passenger manifest containing passport details of passengers and crew is shared with immigration officials 48 hours before the ship’s arrival. This allows immigration officials to process all relevant information and clear passengers for entry before the ship docks.

Due to the short duration of their stay, cruise passengers are also eligible for transit visas, which further eases their entry into the country.

Azamara Journey is only the second of the 32 ships scheduled to moor in Qatar this cruise season which started last month and ends in April next year.

5

6 7

Welcome your family and friends to QatarInvite your family and friends to experience Qatar with Qatar Airways’ new transit visa. If their transit is five hours or more, your guests can apply for a free pre-approved transit visa to stop over in Doha for up to 96 hours. It is a perfect opportunity for them to explore this Arabian treasure and spend more time with you. This visa is exclusive for passengers travelling on confirmed Qatar Airways tickets.

* Terms and conditions apply. Visa is only valid when transit is between five hours and up to a maximum of 90 hours from the time of arrival into Qatar. It can be requested up to 30 days prior to arrival in Qatar.

Visit qatarairways.com/qatartransitvisa or any of our Qatar Airways sales offices.

Qatar Airways and Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) have announced that a new transit visa scheme, which allows passengers with layovers of five hours or more in

Hamad International Airport to request a complimentary transit visa effective as of November 1, 2016.

The new system will allow transiting passengers of all nationalities to enter Qatar for up to 96 hours in between flights. All visas are granted at the sole discretion of the Qatari Ministry of Interior.

The initiative to introduce a free transit visa is the result of collaboration between Qatar Airways and QTA to position the coun-try as a tourist-friendly destination and to attract more international visitors.

Passengers can apply for their free tran-sit visa through any of Qatar Airways’ offices, or online. To be eligible for the transit visa, passengers must have a confirmed ticket for a journey into Qatar, with a confirmed onward journey out of Qatar on a Qatar Air-ways-operated flight.

Terms and conditions apply, which can be found at http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/qatar-transit-visa.page To ensure passengers can make the most of the new transit visa, Qatar Airways has restructured its fares for international flights transiting through Hamad International Airport. This will allow passengers to have a free stopo-ver in Doha without any additional charges to their ticket, either on the outbound or inbound journey. However, passengers traveling from the GCC and Middle East on return tickets will be able to take a stopo-ver in Doha on their outbound journey only without additional charges.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is proudly committed to making Doha a world-class tourist destination. Our collab-oration with Qatar Tourism Authority in setting the new transit visa enables our pas-sengers to explore the country and its hospitality. The tourism industry in Qatar is experiencing considerable growth inspired by the vision of our leadership for

an economically diverse future. As a national flag-bearer and an ambassador of Qatar around the world, Qatar Airways is dedi-cated to providing passengers with their best experience before, during, and after their stay in our country.”

Hassan Al Ibrahim, Chief Tourism

Development Officer at QTA, said: “We have witnessed remarkable interest in the new transit visa scheme from passengers who anticipate a stopover in Qatar, and we expect this interest to translate into an increase in visitor arrivals over the coming months. Visa facilitation is an important fac-tor in increasing the attractiveness of a destination, and we encourage investors and tourism business owners to capitalise on the opportunities presented by this devel-opment to diversify Qatar’s tourism products and services.”

To apply for a free transit visa, passen-gers must be holding a passport that is valid for a minimum of six months from the time of arrival in Qatar. A valid email is also required to facilitate the visa process, which can be applied for a minimum of seven days (excluding public holidays) prior to arrival in Qatar, and a maximum of 90 days prior to arriving in Qatar.

Once approved, the transit visa will be valid for 90 days from the date of issuance,

and will be valid for a single entry into Qatar. Passengers must hold a copy of the pre-approved transit visa at the time of boarding at their airport of origin, as well as upon arrival into Qatar.

Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, is one of the fastest grow-ing airlines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its 19th year of operations, Qatar Airways has a modern fleet of 190 aircraft flying to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations across six continents.

To maximise on their transit through Qatar, visitors can explore Discover Qatar stopover packages offered by Qatar Airways Holidays. These include, desert safaris, city tours, visits to Katara Cultural Village, Souq Waqif and The Pearl-Qatar island, museum and art gallery visits, architectural tours, and hotel bookings. To learn more about Qatar as a destination, visit www.qatarai-rwaysholidays.com/discoverqatar and www.visitqatar.qa

Qatar Airways & QTA launch new transit visa offering travellers up to 96 hours to explore country

Qatar Airways has been declared Best Air-line in the World by New York-based AirHelp Worldwide. Qatar Airways captured

the number one spot over 77 other airlines ranked by AirHelp internationally. Using data collected from worldwide travellers who look to AirHelp for support, the rankings indicate which airline tops the charts in helping travellers when an issue arises.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said: “Qatar Airways’ Best Airline in the World award from AirHelp is truly an honour and a credit to the thousands of men and women that work for Qatar Airways around the world. Qatar Airways staff are dedicated to delivering the highest levels of service, which brings passengers back to Qatar Air-ways again and again. At Qatar Airways, we believe that your trip — be it a holiday with your family or business travel with colleagues — begins the minute you travel with Qatar Airways.”

Qatar Airways is renowned for its customer service and Arabian hospitality; striving to make every trip a pleasant and memorable one.

"As passengers worldwide see customer service being diminished by many major airlines, they are instead being driven to choose carriers that offer more than just a seat from A to B. An airline such as Qatar Airways, who understands the importance of putting the customer first, is setting the bar high and is an example for the rest of the industry of how to put the customer experience at the forefront of the airline prod-uct,” AirHelp Chief Executive Officer Henrik Zillmer said.

AirHelp was formed in 2013 to assist passen-gers worldwide who have experienced delays, cancellations or overbooking. To date, the company has helped over 1.2 million passengers resolve their air travel-related issues.

QA declared Best Airline in the World

Qatar Airways was presented with the Airline of the Year award at CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence held

in Amsterdam recently. The airline’s ambition, significant

strategic growth and industry-wide contribution were commended as part of the accolade, which was awarded for Qatar Airways’ continued delivery of innovative products and services and for its outstanding success for developing strong global airline alliances.

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive received the award from CAPA Executive Chairman Peter Harbison during a gala dinner at the Okura Hotel Amsterdam. Al Baker also delivered the key note speech during the CAPA 2016 Global Summit conference and

participated in a high level panel discussion to a crowd of more than 200 airline industry representatives.

“Our discipline and compassion have driven the success of Qatar Airways over the 20 years, from an airline with just four aircraft to a leading airline of today, with a fleet of over 190 aircraft – all of the youngest and most technologically advanced and efficient aircraft in the world. We are now discussing the comprehensive EU air services agreement, fully committed to the values expressed in the early discussions, to uphold fair competition, to reduce our industry’s impact on the environment, and to serve the needs of our customers, wherever they live and wherever they are going,” he said.

QA receives Airline of the Year awardAkbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, receiving the award.

EXPLORE QATAR

New free transit visa in effect as of November 1, 2016

Qatar Airways passengers can apply for their transit visa when planning their travel

New transit visa reaffirms Qatar Airways’ andQTA’s commitment to position Qatar as aglobal tourist destination

Qatar Airways Holidays offers travellers from around the world the opportunity to add another experience to

their already planned holiday, by stopping over in Doha on their outbound journey, for up to four days.

This holiday-within-a-holi-day is thanks to a new transit visa scheme that allows visitors to break their outbound journey in Doha without impacting their total return ticket fare.

Discover Qatar, the inbound arm of Qatar Airways Holidays offers travellers the opportunity to book from a wide range of products online such as hotels, tours, airport transfers, car rent-als and travel insurance on www.qatarairwaysholidays.com/dis-coverqatar with an instant confirmation. Travellers resid-ing in GCC countries who wish to book flights and hotels as a package to Doha can also visit the Qatar Airways Holidays web-site on qatarairwaysholidays.com Doha, one of the world’s most intriguing tourist destina-tions, offers a rich array of experiences that are perfectly

suited for a brief stopover. Dis-cover Qatar tours include half- and full day desert safaris, city and cultural tours, traditional dhow cruise, some of the world’s best shopping and culinary expe-riences and many more.

Offering something for eve-ryone, Doha is a destination for architecture lovers with the world-famous iconic Museum of Islamic Art, adventurous visitors with the Inland Sea and Singing Sand Dunes, art lovers with Arab Museum of Modern Art, Al Riwaq Gallery or Richard Serra’s West-East sculpture in the Zekreet Desert, or those who like to have

five star culinary experiences with Michelin Star restaurants such as Nobu and Hakkasan.

Visitors booking hotels with Discover Qatar will experience exclusive added-value services such as spa, meal, and activity discount vouchers and take advantage of the recently enacted extended transit visa on the outbound portion of their journey. Stopover special hotel rates are ranging between QR 390-QR1,280 per person per night. Qatar Airways Chief Com-mercial Officer Hugh Dunleavy said: “Doha is a unique combi-nation of old and new, tradition

and modernism. At Qatar Air-ways, our brand is about Going Places Together, and even a short stopover in Doha will enrich the entire journey and allow visitors to sample the historic impor-tance of Qatar, from our world-class hotels, restaurants and museums to the ancient excitement of the desert and Ara-bian Gulf. Visitors can make the most of their stopover with day tours or multi-day experiences offered through Qatar Airways Holidays and Discover Qatar. We welcome visitors to experience the warm Arabic hospitality you won’t find anywhere else.”

On November 1, 2016, new extended transit visa permissions were enacted, allowing passen-gers transiting through Doha to stopover for up to four days. Qatar Airways restructured its fares to ensure passengers could book the lowest fare available for the dates provided, and take advantage of the free transit visa. The new transit visa is only avail-able to Qatar Airways passengers.

Customers can book exclu-sive Qatar stopover hotels, tours, airport transfers with an instant confirmation on qatarairway-sholidays.com/discoverqatar or

book weekend getaways to Doha on qatarairwaysholidays.com from other GCC countries.

Qatar Airways Holidays is the leisure travel division of Qatar Airways. It offers a diverse range of full-service holiday packages for all types of traveller that demand a seamless and hassle-free travel experience.

Travellers planning holidays can choose tailor-made packages from Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman to more than 150 Qatar Airways destinations worldwide and beyond to over 1,000 tourism glo-bal destinations.

Book a stopover in Qatar during your next holiday

Qanat Quartier hosted yet another edition of the suc-cessful ‘Family Fun

Fridays’ series, featuring a vari-ety of entertainment activities for all the family. This initiative by United Development Com-pany (UDC), the master developer of The Pearl-Qatar, attracted hundreds of families from Qatar as well as visitors from the GCC, and was held every Friday starting October 21 untill November 11.

A number of artistic per-formances and recreational activities were organised, espe-cially for children which included balloon twisting, face painting, colouring stations as well as stilt walkers and mascots who lined up the entire stretch at Qanat Quartier. Moreover, cotton candy, popcorn and ice cream were distributed free to all participants at the event. The fun-filled event was held from 5pm to 9pm.

The “Family Fun Fridays” series is part of UDC’s diverse community events, which not only pledges to promote The Pearl-Qatar as a family-friendly

destination, but also aims to pro-mote different retail areas housed by the Island.

Thus the choice of Qanat Quartier’s up and coming retail area as a host to this upcoming series of the “Family Fun Fri-days”, leverages the recent new openings of exciting boutique-style restaurants, coffee shops and convenience stores by cre-ating a nice blend of retail and leisure to event participants

further showcasing this charm-ing precinct.

The events took place in Qanat Quartier “6 A”, where the evening was characterised by extensive involvement of kids in the presence of their families. This initiative was organised by The Pearl-Qatar with the begin-ning of the fall season and to welcome the pleasant weather during the winter, with a series of events fit for all ages and

members of the family, to turn the island into an ideal destina-tion for the entire family, providing community-effective rich experience with a distinc-tive combination of activities, with the idea and concept of a family carnival, where The Pearl-Qatar becomes an active leisure destination. All the chil-dren who participated in the events received gifts in interest-ing competitions.

UDC initiative ‘Family Fun Fridays’ at Qanat Quartier a huge success

Ezdan World Company, a subsidiary of Ezdan Holding Group, has announced to launch a series of recreational projects designed for different age groups, which is poised

to bring a paradigm shift in the entertainment field, and reviv-ing Qatar’s tourism industry. The company anticipates rise in visitors to the “Magical Festival Village" during the coming season to reach 30 percent compared to the first season, which has seen a great success since its inception with a daily aver-age exceeding 7,000 visitors on weekdays and 19,000 during the weekends.

The Magical Village comprises a unique selection of the most entertaining games appealing to all age categories and that would satisfy the audience’s various tastes and prefer-ences. It also includes a series of top restaurants and cafes spread in wide areas, as well as commercial outlets showcas-ing the world’s most prominent brands of clothes, perfumes and other products, in addition to venues for diverse enter-tainment shows.

The village’s entertainment programmes are specifically designed for families and their children, providing enjoyable play shows such as Aladdin, Snow White and Alice in Won-derland in a 3D holographic display, in order to attract the largest number of audience, children & families in particular. “The company is to launch a series of recreational projects designed for different age groups, creating a paradigm shift in the entertainment field, and reviving the tourism sector in Qatar to reach highest levels” said Abdulaziz Al Mohannadi, General Manager of Ezdan World. He added that the Magi-cal Festival Village’s events, throughout its duration, would receive thousands of visitors exceeding the first season’s number, in particular from inside Qatar and GCC region.

The first season, held at the beginning of the current year, was attended by 70 percent of Qatari and GCC citi-zens, 20 percent of different Arabs and 10 percent of other nationalities. The Village included 400 outlets, in which 75 percent were rented due to the facilities provided by the company for the participants, in addition to the overwhelm-ing turnout. “The Magical Festival Village’s has achieved the goal that has always been desired, which is inaugurat-ing a comprehensive recreational village in Qatar to be the centre of attraction for families in Qatar and from neigh-bouring countries, without the need to travel abroad," said Al Mohannadi.

Magical Festival Village adds to tourism boom

Qatar Airways Holidays makes stopover easy with exclusive Discover Qatar hotels, tours and transfer deals

New free transit visa is now available for GCC/Middle East travellers to visit Doha

This initiative by United Development Company (UDC), the master developer of The Pearl-Qatar, attracted hundreds of families from Qatar as well as visitors from the GCC, and was held every Friday starting October 21 untill November 11.

8

Hamad International Air-port (HIA) launched the Android version of its

innovative iBeacon enabled HIA Qatar mobile app which is used for way-finding and acquiring context relevant information about promotional offers.

HIA has also released a major upgrade for its iOS app, which now makes use of Apple’s Indoor Positioning technology. HIA has partnered with Apple Inc to become one of a handful of airports globally to have implemented this capability to provide an enhanced navigation experience inside the airport based on the user’s real-time location.

Among HIA Qatar app’s fea-tures are the “landing” screen identifies the user’s location in the terminal and offers a unified global search to look up a flight by number or destination; and locate amenities, services, shop-ping and dining options using brand names or key words. For

example, searching for “coffee” or “handbags” will list all the outlets that offer these products, with the nearest one listed first. The user is then assisted with a turn-by-turn navigation to reach their selected destination.

Earlier this year, HIA became one of the few airports in the world to have successfully deployed iBeacons to provide location based services.

With a simple scan of the boarding pass and opt-in for location detection, the app pro-vides real-time information about flight status, baggage claim, time and direction to boarding gates and food, bev-erage and retail offers from Qatar Duty Free (QDF), the air-port’s award winning shopping emporium. The app alerts users when walking past outlets with ongoing promotions. Currently, the location services primarily address the departure and transfer experience, including

retail, dining, boarding gates and other airport amenities; with the coverage being progressively increased.

Suhail Kadri, Vice-President Information Technology at HIA, said: “Investing in state-of-the-art technology is crucial for maintaining our position amongst the top airports in the world. By leveraging our in-house expertise to design and develop; and partnering with industry leaders, we are contin-u o u s l y i n n o v a t i n g technology-based services to make a difference for our customers.”

Abdulaziz Al Mass, Vice-President Commercial and Marketing at HIA, said: “We aim to provide our passengers with a seamless travel experience; and trust that our latest effort will enable more of our custom-ers to benefit from the improved context and time sensitive infor-mation provided by our travel-companion app.”

The dual-track passen-ger train inside Qatar’s Hamad International Airport (HIA) terminal was officially launched

on November 1. The five-car Automated People Movers (APM), with a capacity to move 190 pas-sengers per train, will start full operations from today.

The introduction of the new service at the airport will not only enhance passenger experi-ence but also significantly speed up passenger travel time within the terminal for both arriving and departing passengers.

The passenger trains were officially inaugurated by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, and Badr Mohammed Al Meer, Chief Oper-ating Officer of HIA, in the presence of dignitaries from the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

“We are making the HIA the most preferred destination for passengers by introducing inno-vative ways to move people

around. This will facilitate pas-sengers to have easy access to the expanded facilities, which should be starting from the beginning of next year,” Al Baker told The Peninsula on the side-lines of the event.

The two trains will shuttle between the South and North nodes of the terminal, signifi-cantly reducing travel time

through the airport for both arriving and departing passen-gers, which includes transfer passengers. They will be oper-ated simultaneously in a synchronised manner 24 hours a day. Each trip between the two stations takes 90 seconds, with a 44-second waiting time at each station.

Approximate walking time

for the same distance is nine minutes. The passenger trains have become operational after the Ministry of Transport and Communications provided HIA with an Operational Safety Cer-tificate. This certificate establishes that HIA has met the railway safety regulation requirements, to the satisfaction of the Ministry, for commence-

ment of passenger service.The Ministry has worked

with HIA over the past few months through the safety cer-tification process to ensure that HIA, the operator of the passen-ger train, achieves compliance with regulations in Qatar, has an effective safety management system and the appropriate com-petency and capacity to

implement safety systems to ensure safe railway operations.

Al Meer, Chief Operating Officer of Hamad International Airport, said: “We are proud to introduce this latest service at our airport with the help and support of the Ministry of Trans-port and Communications and the New Doha International Air-port Steering Committee.”

Dual-track train service begins at HIA

The passenger train being inaugurated by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, and Badr Mohammed Al Meer, Chief Operating Officer of HIA.190The five-car trainhas a capacityof 190 passengers.

90/44A trip between the two stations takes 90 seconds, with a 44 second waiting time at each station.

HIA launches Android version of innovative mobile app

9

10

Anne Silva The Peninsula

There’s an increase in demand for Dhow cruises recently due to the onset of winter. Both small and large

boats are booked by large groups of people to enjoy the pristine Gulf waters and the cooler weather, say trip coordinators.

“The demand is higher dur-ing the transition months of October to November and dur-ing the month of March,” shared a trip coordinator. These types of trips are usually arranged for groups of 10 and upwards.

A ‘Dhow’ is a traditional

sailing vessel with one or two masts that is significant to Ara-bian and Indian culture. It’s a relaxing and enjoyable activity. A small boat that generally holds about 10 to 15 passengers costs around QR2,300. A large boat that can hold a minimum of 25 passengers costs QR190 per adult and QR160 per child. (Children aged 1 to 5 are not charged) The large boat comes with an upper deck, air conditioned cabin and fully functioning showers to be used after a swim in the sea.

The cruise starts at the Cor-niche Bay area, where the passengers are picked up and the Dhow will travel around for a while. There’s also the option of

visiting Palm Tree island, located off the shore. The days of sail are allocated according to the choice of the guest. The Dhow also comes equipped with fishing gear and a professional chef , who will prepare a BBQ dinner for those on board. He will also clean, pre-pare and marinate the day’s catch for a taste of the delicious fresh gulf fish.

Also, the Corniche bay area is dotted with small dhows that costs QR25 per person for a 30-minute trip. These dhows stand out from the rest because the dhow captain decorates his ship with colourful lamps and turns on Indian or Arabic music to accompany the travellers.

Amna Pervaiz Rao The Peninsula

The season of overnight stays in the desert has arrived in Qatar as families are spending nights

over the weekend in the desert at the seaside to feel the pleasures of a cold breeze.

Tour operators are offering won-derful opportunities for visitors to become familiar with the desert. Most desert safaris are conducted in large four-wheel drive cars driven through the dunes (known as dune bashing) to a remote site in the desert.

The tour operators usually have a tent, where tourists can relax, enjoy the food and drink, listen to tradi-tional music, go on camel rides and sand sports (dune buggies and sand surfing).

A popular custom ‘desert safari’ is a must-do in Qatar. “I have been on a few desert safaris. I always hire a driver from the beach to ride us to the sand dunes. The first was truly terrifying, the second felt like we had ruined the driver’s day just by crying, and the third was certainly

good and the driver knew his job. It was certainly the best,” said James, a British expat at Khor Al Udaid located in south of Qatar.

“It is always an incredible expe-rience when the weather changes. We leave our home after Friday prayers and arrive at the beach. We set up our camp, we swim in the sea. Kids really enjoy the buggy ride. We prepare our dinner. Late night we go fishing near the seashore. While watching the stars, we fall asleep,” said Jasim Abdullah, a Qatari native at Al Ghariya Beach located at the north of Qatar.

“We usually come here for camping. We avail of the Woqod petrol station nearby. We set our own camp and enjoy jet skiing. Bon-fire at night keeps up the thrill. We prepare barbecue at night. The white sand of the beach is like refined powder. With clear blue sea and a shoreline scattered with pretty pink, white, red and yellow seashells, Fuwairit is a real gem,” said Ahmed, a Qatari citizen on Fuwairit beach located in north of Qatar.

Huge demand for Dhow cruises

Desert safaris: Families enjoy with sands & stars

A star-speckled sky above the desert.

Qatar international Boat Show 2016 (QIBS’16) has announced an exciting line up of Qatari

exhibitors who will be presenting their latest consumer and commer-cial offerings alongside global market leaders, at the 4th edition of QIBS at Lusail Marina, Lusail City from December 7–10.

QIBS’16 is held under the patron-age of Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.

This year’s event will deliver an exciting and diverse range of return-ing and new brands. It will serve as a platform for local companies to gen-erate new contracts and to spur business growth in line with QIBS’s mission to provide a forum to drive economic prosperity and advance Qatari businesses, in keeping with the show’s pledge to Qatar National Vision 2030.

Many renowned Qatari companies will be exhibiting at this year’s show and will present numerous sales options for businesses and consum-ers, including Alfardan Marine Services, a noted company, which will showcase a host of marine equipment and accessories from names such as Quicksilver, Raymarine, Mercury Engines, Connelly, Zapata, Hover-board, Flyboard and Seabob, one of the most technically advanced,

ecofriendly, and fastest vehicles for moving on and underwater.

Also at the exhibition, will be Xtreme Marine, boasting their fleet of Bennington boats, often dubbed the ‘Rolls Royces’ of sea vessels.

For those looking for adventure, Alghais Diving will be on hand to inspire visitors to become scuba div-ing certified through the training center’s exceptional diving education courses, which now includes the chance to enroll in their new instruc-tor development course. Firms and seafarers alike will marvel at Gais Marine’s roster of state-of-the art spear guns. Furthermore, boat and sports vehicle dealer Speed Marine will display an assortment of Scarab jet boats, fast moving water and land vehicles, including BRP Sea-Doo per-sonal watercraft, BRP Can-Am ATVs, Side by Side vehicles and BRP Spyder roadster tricycles that are optimal for commercial and personal utilization.

To ensure that whatever water equipment sporting enthusiasts and companies purchase or own are kept in immaculate condition, Marsa Marine Services will be available to provide information on their complete selec-tion of services for yacht and boating maintenance for both businesses and consumers. Additionally, trailer sales and services company, High Trailer & Cabin will be exhibiting a variety of

off-road and water vehicles such as motorcycles, boats, water scooters and modern trailers.

“After a tremendously successful first three years we worked diligently to ensure we are providing something extra special each year. In keeping with this aim, and our commitment of being one of the premier boat and sporting shows in the region and to help bolster Qatar’s burgeoning marine and seafaring industry, we will con-tinue to perform as a medium for generating business for our exhibitors and attending delegates. We are excited the Qatar International Boat Show 2016 will feature a large and eclectic collection of maritime retail-ers and a sample of their products and services. We are confident companies and consumers will engage with local experts and will appreciate the mul-titude of electrifying demonstrations, high quality merchandise and sales options that are available,” said Nader Samaan, Director of Qatar Interna-tional Boat Show 2016.

The Qatar International Boat Show 2016 will showcase interna-tional, regional and local exhibitors and impressive motorboats, luxury yachts and unique dhows. Further-more, there will be a number of food and beverage outlets and an array of captivating side events happening on a daily basis.

Exciting events at QIBS next month

11

More than 100 Ara-bian boats of varying types and sizes moored at Katara Beach pro-

vided hundreds of visitors a glimpse into the ancient Gulf maritime heritage at the sixth edition of Katara Traditional Dhow Festival.

Held under the patronage of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the festival pri-marily aims to promote awareness of the rich maritime rich legacy of Qatar and the GCC countries among the new gen-erations. The annual event was held from November 15 to 19 at Katara beach.

Arabic songs performed by folkloric bands dressed in tradi-tional attire evoked a festive atmosphere at the opening of the festival led by the Minister of Culture and Sports H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, Katara General Manager Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti and Sheikh Faisal bin Qas-sim Al Thani.

“The sixth Traditional Dhow Festival is the fruit of its previ-ous successful editions that were attended by huge crowds and competition participants,” said Al Sulaiti, adding that what makes this edition special is the announcement of Fath Al-Khair 3 voyage that revives the ances-tors’ seafaring tradition.

He stressed that maritime heritage has been an integral ele-ment of the culture of Qatar and other Gulf states, thus Katara is keen in fostering and supporting this authentic tradition inherited from the forefathers.

Festival organizing commit-tee head Ahmad Al Hitmi said that apart from the announce-ment of the third edition of Fath Al-Khair 3, this edition is special because of the unique competi-tions, some of which are new to this year’s festival programme.

A major highlight of the

festival, traditional maritime competitions including Al Haddaq, dhow loader and Alg-hazl, Al Lafah, pearl diving, rowing and Al Nahmah were held. Other featured activities which run parallel with the fes-tival included folkloric performances, Daloub operetta, boat trips, traditional café, fish market and crafts.

The festival provided visitors a peek into the ancient maritime industry which includes, among others, dhow making, Shellfish splitting and production of sails, traps, fishing nets and other fish-ing and pearl diving tools and equipment.

Dhow trips were available to visitors from 3pm to 9pm from The Pearl (Gate 1) to Katara Beach and vice versa.

Students of 14 Independent and international schools went for an educational trip at the fes-tival to get a glimpse of the rich Qatari maritime heritage. They were assigned different projects and activities that tested their understanding of maritime life and the life their grandfathers led. Some of the projects and activities were painting a dhow, w r i t i n g e s s a y s , a n d photography.

The Wives of Heads of Mis-sions in Qatar (WOHOM) in Doha were also among those who vis-ited the festival. Accompanied by Al Sulaiti, WOHOM represented by Lebanon, Palestine, Algeria, Chad, Singapore, Indonesia, Viet-nam, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Hungary, among others toured the festival venue.

“From my perspective, I think this is the most interesting cultural event that I have attended in Doha so far, as it con-tains an amazing crowd and is well organised,” said Daphne Sohan, the wife of Singaporean ambassador.

Roqaya Al Mahy, the wife of Chad Ambassador, stressed the

importance of preserving culture, as new generations should be well aware of their own cultural identity. She said: “Katara’s Dhow festival is a charming opportunity to authentically experience the past while living in a modern era.” Dhow Trips from The Pearl-Qatar to Katara and vice versa also continued from 3pm until 9pm.

Visitors including students enjoyed coffee and traditional Qatari Karak at the festival’s tra-ditional café designed in an authentic Arabic style seating where the visitors can experience the past.

Moreover, visitors were also enthralled by Daloub Operetta which began at 6.30pm daily and

evoked Qatari history through traditional live performance.

There has been an increase in the number of dhows partic-ipating in the festival – a vital event in Katara’s calendar to keep youth connected with his-tory amid new technology, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti said. “The number of participating boats has increased from 110 the previous year to 118 this year. We are now talking beyond numbers because every year numbers are increasing,” said Al Sulaiti, stressing the importance of the festival not only to Qatar but the Gulf region.

“Rarely you will find institu-tions that look after this aspect of our cultural heritage so this is

something that Katara takes care of because we consider it a sig-nificant part of our country’s history and the people’s lives in the Gulf especially in Qatar,” he said.

Al Sulaiti underlined the importance of keeping the new generation in touch with their rich maritime heritage and of reminding them of the history of their forefathers through the fes-tival and the profusion of events to be held in line with it.

“The number of events and competitions has also increased. We are introducing a number of new features such as Al Nahmah, which traces back in the past when pearl divers used to take someone with a nice voice to entertain them onboard as a way to pass time as they embark on a long voyage to the sea,” Al Sulaiti said.

In its first two editions, the journey have taken the 33-year-old Fath Al Kheir dhow to Oman and India to revive the centuries-old maritime heritage Qatar shares with neighbouring countries.

There were morning field trips for international and Arab

schools organized by Katara in bid to promote awareness about the maritime rich legacy of Qatar and the Gulf, in addition to sea trips will from 3 to 9pm taking passengers from the Pearl to Katara Beach. Newly-designed events were also in place to attract a large public turnout of all age categories and nationalities.

Stalls sold traditional hand-icrafts created by the region’s best artisans, some known as the Wadaj, Al-Tawash profession, Alyal, Al-yezaf, Laskar, Al-Zara-fah, Al-Hadhrah, Al-Qalafah and falaq among others. The tradi-tional cafe welcomed audiences interested in meeting Qatari and Gulf researchers for a glimpse on the deeply-rooted maritime her-itage and listening to narration of epic stories.

A number of cultural activi-ties were staged including traditional shows inspired by the maritime legacy of the region featuring performers from Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. As in previ-ous editions, a fine art and photography competitions were open to citizens and residents in and outside Qatar.

Katara Traditional Dhow Festival wows visitorsPics by Abdul Basit / The Peninsula

katarahospitality.com

Pride is what we feel when we look at our past. Passion is what inspires our present.Perfection is our plan for tomorrow.

Katara Hospitality. Rejuvenating the iconic. Inspiring the future. Welcoming the world.

WE ARE CREATING AN ICONIC FUTURE FOR QATAR.

45 YEARS OF HOSPITALITY