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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Ireland is working on several plans to register a five-fold increase in tourists from Qatar in 2018, a senior official of Tourism Ireland has said.
Tourism Ireland Middle East, Asia and Developing Markets Head David Boyce told Qatar Tribune that Ireland aims to receive at least 10,000 visitors from Qatar this year compared to 2,000 visitors last year.
Boyce, who headed a large delegation of Irish tour and travel officials to Doha recently, said that Tourism Ireland has initiated talks with a number of Doha-based travel agencies to promote the island of Ireland in Qatar as a leading holiday destination.
"Irish and Qatari companies are working together to offer complete packages including visa, tickets, hotel stays and sight-seeing at competitive prices to make it easier for both Qatari nationals and residents to visit Ireland," Boyce said.
The Tourism Ireland officials also held an event in Doha to interact with local tour and travel officials to present various attractions for tourists in Ireland.
During the event, he said, representatives of tours and travel companies from Ireland and Qatar came together to exchange ideas and form partnership to promote tourism in the two countries.
Boyce said that Ireland has taken special initiatives to make its tourism sector friendlier for visitors from the Islamic countries like Qatar.
Starting from halal food to providing suitable facilities for Arab families, he said, special care is being taken to make visitors from the Middle East region feel at home.
Besides attracting tourists, Boyce said, the two countries are also in talks to promote business between Doha and Dublin which would ultimately result in exchange of more visitors.
Citing the introduction of daily Qatar Airways flight between Doha and Dublin last year as a major boost for trade between the two countries, Boyce said that talks are also on to increase the frequency of the flight if needed.
Given the fact that tourism is Ireland's largest indigenous industry responsible for more than 4 percent of the country's gross national product (GNP), and employing approximately 281,000 people across the island, he said Qatar can take advantage from investing in the vital sector.
"In 2017, we welcomed approximately 10.65 million overseas visitors to the island of Ireland, delivering revenue of about €5.78 billion," he said.
Ireland is expected to emerge as one of the main destinations for international investment in the post-Brexit era, he said, adding that there won't be a more suitable time than now for the Qatari investors to tap the massive investment opportunities in Ireland's tourism sector.
In 2018, Tourism Ireland aims to grow overseas tourism revenue by 5 percent to €6 billion for the island of Ireland and to grow visitor numbers to 10.8 million, he said.
"We are heading into 2018 in a position of some strength. Our aim is to position Ireland as a year-round, 'must visit' destination and to ensure that the contribution of overseas tourism to the economy continues to expand. We want to exploit new access opportunities from Asia and the Middle East to grow business from our developing markets," the official said.
