Qatar Participates in Meeting of GCC Tourism Ministers Committee

Kuwait, October 14 (QNA) - Kuwait hosted Tuesday the First Constituent Meeting of the GCC Tourism Ministers Committee. Qatar's delegation to meeting was chaired by HE Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi. The meeting focused on the inter-tourism between the GCC countries and how to engage the private sector in the development of tourism industry. The meeting marked the beginning of common GCC action on tourism and strengthen cooperation among the GCC states. The Qatari tourism sector is witnessing a quantum leap, with Qatar increasingly attracting the world's attention as a tourism destination. The tourism sector and other sectors in Qatar rapidly grew over a short period of time, with the country becoming a fast-growing market by any standard. Index compiler MSCI last year upgraded Qatar to an emerging market status. Qatar's tourism sector grew by a staggering 11% last year. Various reports showed that tourism in the Middle East rose by 11% last year despite the turmoil in the region. They pointed out that most of this growth was registered by the Gulf states, particularly Qatar, while tourism in other countries in the region declined as a result of political unrest. (QNA)