World Tourism Day is commemorated each year on 27 September, with celebrations led by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Its purpose is to foster awareness among the global community of tourism’s social, cultural, political and economic value and the contribution the sector can make in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.

World Tourism DayThis year, in line with UNWTO’s overarching focus on skills, education and jobs throughout the year, World Tourism Day will be a celebration on the topic ‘Tourism and Jobs: a better future for all’.

HE Akbar Al Baker, Secretary-General of Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, released a statement on the occasion of World Tourism Day 2019:

Tourism is one of the most resilient sectors globally, growing at a rate of 4%, creating 10% of world jobs and even more in the ancillary sectors. Today, we celebrate World Tourism Day under a theme that truly resonates with our vision for tourism in Qatar: ‘Tourism and Jobs: a better future for all.’ Together with our partners from both public and private sectors, we have been constantly working on implementing policies to develop the tourism ecosystem that helps create new business sustainable growth and job opportunities.

With a stable growth that has reached 11% as of August 2019*, Qatar’s tourism sector has proven to be a promising market for investors and businesses. Qatar was recently ranked #1 in the Middle East and #8 globally in Business Environment by the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019. The country’s tourism sector is undergoing rapid development, with milestone achievements in the sub sectors of cruise, business events and sports. Preparing beyond 2022, multiple new businesses are creating thousands of job opportunities in hospitality, retail, F&B, and transportation.

To meet this demand for well-prepared capabilities, QNTC has initiated several training and education initiatives such as our tour guide programme and the UNWTO/IE University Online Tourism Academy. We also support our partners such as QBIC, QDB, Josoor Institute, Stenden University and HBKU in training professionals and start-ups in tourism. We encourage all members of the sector and even those interested to join and benefit from these platforms to equip themselves with the tools to excel, expand and create more jobs.’

*Figure reflects growth from January to 31 August 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.