Qatari Newspapers Editorials

Doha, January 08 (QNA) - Qatari newspapers highlighted in their editorials on Sunday a range of local, Arab and international topics. Locally, the Qatari dailies praised Qatar's strategy aimed at promoting its position as a leading global tourist destination, especially after the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and the State's steady and constant steps in implementation of its economic diversification cation plans. At the Arab level, the papers warned of the dangerous escalation in the Palestinian territories caused by the actions and schemes of the new extremist government of the Israeli entity. Qatari daily Al-Watan noted in its editorial the expectations that Qatar's economy will grow by 3.4% in 2022-2023, derived by the momentum of hosting the World Cup, which will enhance Qatar's position on the world tourism map by attracting 6 million visitors annually, and raise the tourism sector's contribution to the State's GDP to 12% by 2030. In addition to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 which allowed visitors from around the world to experience Qatar's hospitality, culture and authentic heritage, many new attractions and entertainment destinations are opening across the country, which also enjoys a huge construction renaissance by establishing a solid infrastructure of roads, railways, airports and ports, and service networks of electricity, water and communications. These are all promising indications that the number of tourists visiting Qatar will be doubled, Al-Watan pointed out. The paper underlined that the tourism sector in the State of Qatar will see a real boom that will consolidate Qatar's position as an attractive tourist destination, especially after Qatar Tourism launched recently the new "Feel More in Qatar" campaign which is scheduled to operate in over 17 markets across the world, in addition to plans to launch a calendar full of events this year, making Qatar one of the favorite destinations on the world tourism map. Qatari daily Al-Raya underlined that Qatar is taking steady and confident steps in implementing its plans to diversify the economy with a remarkable recovery in the tourism sector. As soon as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 concluded with impressive success, Qatar Tourism announced a package of plans and programs for 2023, as part of its strategy to enhance Qatar's position as a leading global tourist destination by attracting 6 million visitors annually and raising the contribution of the tourism sector to in GDP from 7 to 12 percent by 2030. There is no doubt that Qatar's successful organization of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which attracted about 5 billion people around the world according to FIFA, and received about 1.4 million visitors over the days of the tournament, contributes strongly to strengthening the image and position of Qatar on the global tourism map, Al-Raya stressed. There are promising horizons for the tourism sector in Qatar with plans in place to increase internal spending in tourist destinations by 3 to 4 times, attract more internal investments, provide more job opportunities, and diversify sources of income. The State of Qatar has proven its ability of hosting different nationalities and cultures with great hospitality and good reception, in a way that dazzled its visitors and guests from all over the world during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Al-Raya added. Qatar's hosting of the FIFA World Cup is expected to attract about 40 million tourists in the coming years, which constitutes a quantum leap in the country's tourism process, especially after the professional organization of the largest football event, Al-Raya concluded. In its editorial, The Peninsula said that Qatar is set to host high profile sports action throughout this year from global events to continental and regional competitions, adding that Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) alone will stage over 80 contests including 14 major international contests. The newspaper said that Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) is preparing to host the popular King of the Court Finals (Beach Volleyball) followed by the Beach Pro Tour Finals, while the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation is preparing for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and Qatar TotalEnergies Open. Major events to be hosted in Qatar in 2023 also include Artistic Gymnastics World Cup 2023, Qatar Open Amateur Championship, 2023 ISSF World-shotgun, and Ooredoo Qatar Major Padel Championship, the newspaper added. The Peninsula concluded its editorial by noting that popular local events are also set to impress fans throughout this year, adding that these events include Amir Cup competitions in several disciplines including the highly-anticipated Amir Cup football and HH The Amir Sword Equestrian Festival. For its part, Al-Sharq newspaper said in its editorial that the situation in the Palestinian territories is still escalating, in light of the new extremist Israeli government and its plans that are being implemented, starting with Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir storming Al-Aqsa Mosque a few days ago, the punitive measures to clamp down on the Palestinian Authority and the continuation of the military campaigns and incursions across the West Bank. The newspaper pointed out that with the continued escalation of Israeli attacks and provocations, which ignited Palestinian and Arab anger, the Arab Ministerial Committee in Charge of International Action to Confront Illegal Israeli Policies and Measures in the Occupied City of Jerusalem, which is headed by Jordan and includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and the UAE, continues to act at all international and regional forums to confront the dangerous developments led by the far-right Israeli government and the settler groups. Al-Sharq warned of the continuation of the situation in Palestine in this way, explaining that the region cannot bear further escalation and a new cycle of conflict and wars. The newspaper concluded its editorial by saying that in light of this extremist government, the United States and the West have no choice but to abandon the policy of bias against human rights and principles of justice and exert pressure to prevent any measures that push the situation towards dangerous scenarios and work immediately to move the political process and put it on a path that leads to ending the occupation and achieving a just and comprehensive peace that restores the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. (QNA)