News

Qatar Airways is proud sponsor of the Fourth Edition of Shop Qatar.

Qatar Airways is the Official Airline Partner and proud sponsor of the fourth edition of the Shop Qatar festival, currently taking place until 31 January 2020 in various shopping malls across Doha. The launch event treated guests to a fashion show by Qatar’s Hind Al Rumaihi, followed by French fashion collective Faith Connexion. A traditional Chinese lion show ended the evening, as a prelude to the week-long Chinese New Year celebrations that will happen for the first time ever. Running until the end of January, Shop Qatar will showcase the work of local, regional and international designers, with a series of fashion shows and makeup masterclasses with celebrity artists and influencers. The celebrations will end with Chinese New Year festivities. There will also be an array of mall activations, children’s entertainment shows and a host of live music concerts. Following Shop Qatar is an exciting programme of events in 2020, including Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition (24 to 29 February), Qatar International Food Festival (24 March to 2 April) and Doha Design Week (18 to 28 March). This is in addition to the year-round activities on offer in Doha such as outdoor adventures, cultural attractions and fine dining. Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of more than 250 aircraft via its hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), to more than 160 destinations worldwide. The world’s fastest-growing airline added several exciting new destinations to its growing network last year, including Rabat, Morocco; Izmir, Turkey; Malta; Davao, Philippines; Lisbon, Portugal; Mogadishu, Somalia; Langkawi, Malaysia and Gaborone, Botswana. The airline will add Luanda, Angola; Osaka, Japan; Dubrovnik, Croatia and Santorini, Greece to its extensive route network in 2020.

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International tourist arrivals in Italy expected to increase by 3.1 percent annually this year.

In keeping with the global upward trend, international tourist arrivals in Italy are expected to go up by 3.1 percent annually this year, as per projections by the Venice-based International Center for Studies on Tourism Economics (CISET). However, CISET also said that the increase in international tourist arrivals would be more limited in contrast to the previous two years from all of the areas considered, and particularly from northern Europe. The forecast said that Italy will receive an estimated 74 million foreign tourists this year. The tourism sector is expected to continue growing worldwide. “Despite caution caused by uncertainty at geopolitical level, a 3.5 percent (annual) increase — equal to 1.5 billion arrivals overall — is expected in 2020,” the CISET report said. Based on figures from the Bank of Italy on domestic tourism and from the UNWTO on the global trends, the CISET report is published twice a year association with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The report bases four macro-areas: the Mediterranean, central Europe, northern Europe and extra-Europe (including the Americas, Asia and south-east Asia, and Africa). “The trend from Japan would also be positive, with an expected 4.6 percent rise in arrivals, confirming the strong interest of Japanese travelers in our country,” the CISET report added. Tourism is a major source of income for Italy, which is the eurozone’s third largest economy.

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Kashmir will be connected via trains to whole of India by 2021.

The valley of Kashmir will be connected to the rest of the country through an extensive railway network by December 2021. The chairman said that the construction of the bridge is the most challenging part of the Kashmir rail link project. Facts about the project 1) The gigantic arch-shaped structure is being built in a terrain that’s hostile. 2) More than 5462 tonnes of steel will be placed 359 m above the river bed, which is the most challenging. 3) The 1.315-km-long bridge is being designed to bear wind speeds of up to 260 km per hour. 4) It will connect Bakkal in Katra and Kauri in Srinagar. 5) The bridge forms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal, which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar - Baramulla rail link project. 6) It will break the record of the Beipan River Shuibai railway bridge (275 m), which is in China. Declared as a national project in 2002, the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project is every bit crucial, as it will be a trusted transportation system that will connect the valley to the Indian Railways network.

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Turkey’s capital city Istanbul welcomes 11.3 million foreign tourists in nine months.

Turkey’s one of the most popular city, Istanbul welcomed 11.3 million foreign tourists in the first nine months of this year, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya announced. Yerlikay said that Istanbul is reaching its 2023 tourism targets by breaking its own records. The number of foreign visitors between the months of January and September increased by 12% compared to the same period in 2018. The German tourists topped the list with 858,000 visitors, marking a five percent increase, followed by Iranians with 687,000, Iraqis with 545.000 and, Russians in fourth place with 512,000. The number of Chinese and Kuwaiti tourists increased significantly, recording 11% and 30.7% increases respectively. The arrivals to Istanbul from Arab countries overall increased by 12%. Of all the tourists coming to the metropolis, 25.8% came from Arab countries, amounting to 2.9 million tourists. The hotel occupancy rates in Istanbul also increased by 4% to 74.5% compared to the previous year. The average daily room price increased by 10.8% to 91.1 euros ($102). The income per room rose by 15.4% to 67.9 euros ($76).

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Heavy snow blankets upper reaches of Uttarakhand; tourists in for a treat.

The ongoing cold wave, sweeping over much of North India, has led to more snowfall in parts of Himachal as well as the upper reaches of Uttarakhand. Popular tourist destinations including Joshimath, Chamoli, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Hemkund Sahib, the Valley of Flowers, Uttarkashi are currently blanketed by layers of fresh snow. In addition, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Harsil, and Har ki Doon also received fresh snowfall. The popular hill stations of Mussoorie and Chopta also saw fresh snow, luring travellers from around the country. Mussoorie’s Mall Road and Landour saw an increased footfall of tourists, keen to bask in the winter fun. People could be seen huddled around bonfires all through the day as mercury dipped further. Further, as per the predictions by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) hailstorms, rainfall and more snow are expected to hit the state over the weekend. The neighbouring hill state of Himachal Pradesh is also seeing snowfall; the very popular Manali decked in several layers. Reportedly, a number of vehicles were stuck on the Kullu-Manali Highway. While efforts are on to decongest the traffic by the concerned authorities, continuous snowfall is hurdling more work. As per the reports, hours-long traffic jams disrupted vehicular movement, especially near Patlikul. The nearby areas of Sainj and Banjar are also affected by snowfall. Meanwhile, Shimla is seeing droves of tourists, eager to experience fresh snowfall.

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Egypt Tourism: Over 15 million tourists expected to visit the country in 2020

Organization (WTO) said that the number of international tourists to visit Egypt in 2020 is expected to exceed 15 million. The new tourism figures released by the WTO shows that Egypt’s tourism sector has recovered after the number of tourists who visited the country in 2019 hit about 13 million, WTO economic adviser Saeed el-Batouti said. El-Batouti, also a board member of the German Travel Association, attributed the expected rise in the number of tourists visiting Egypt this year to Egypt’s stability and the package of policies the country has adopted. He added that the Egyptian tourism sector recovery results from the strong support provided by Egypt’s political leadership, highlighting the importance of working to attract tourists from various countries. Spain and Italy are among the markets that Egypt targets, he said, calling for opening up new tourist markets in Egypt and focusing on the religious tourism.

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