The newly opened Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) is fast transforming Qatar’s meetings and events industry into a global business destination. To date the Centre has hosted 52 events with more than 30,000 visitors. The estimated delegate spend from overseas visitors is over QR 41 million (US11.2 million).

This year, the Centre will play host to a number of international events including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) from 21 to 26 April and the 25th Universal Postal Congress (UPU) in September and October 2012.

The upcoming quadrennial UNCTAD XIII is expected to attract a minimum of 4,000 delegates from all over the world including high profile political figures from the Arab region and ministers and dignitaries from the European Union. This is the first time the conference will have been hosted in the region and it will be preceded by a series of events, among which are the Third World Investment Forum, Civil Society Forum and Global Services Forum to be attended by global corporations, non-governmental organisations and government officials.

COP 18

Trevor McCartney, Director of Business Development of QNCC, announced that QNCC will host one of the largest and most high-profile conferences in the world, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 18) from 26 November to 7 December: “This is a challenging event but at the same time, it poses a great opportunity for QNCC to take centre stage in showcasing its capabilities and flexibility as the host venue. The success of this event will put us in a superior position to attract many more large conferences and exhibitions to the country.”

“QNCC was built as part of Qatar Foundation’s strategies, in line with Qatar’s national vision of transforming the country into a knowledge-based economy. Naturally, our key target market is the association market specifically knowledge-based conferences and exhibitions from the MENA region. We recently concluded a familiarization trip for a group of potential association clients and received very positive feedback.”

Increase in visitors

According to Qatar Tourism Authority, the country recorded a massive jump in the number of visitors in 2011. The number of visitors from the Gulf region soared to 50% compared to the previous year and an increase of 12% for the international visitors. Business tourism accounted for 72% of the number of visitors received by Qatar last year. The country was recently voted the World’s Leading Business Travel Destination at the 2012 World Travel Awards.

Photo: QNCC exterior at dusk.