Floating Hotels for Qatar 2022 World Cup

Qatar plans to accommodate some 12,000 football fans on cruise ships during the World Cup in 2022, a spokesman for the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) said on Monday.

The proposal for "floating hotels" is a revival of an idea which was initially rejected two years ago.

However, Qatar is now seeking to strengthen its presence in the cruise ship market and the idea to house fans during the tournament has been re-floated.

The QTA announced the proposals at a trade conference in the US over the weekend.

In a statement on the official Qatar News Agency, the QTA said: "Over the past few years, QTA established a number of strong relationships with international cruise operators as well as with other specialists involved in the industry.

"This has proved to be of great importance especially that Qatar will be extensively benefiting from cruise ships over the 2022 World Cup, as a means of providing additional accommodation supply for fans and visitors over the period.

"QTA will be contracting a minimum of 6,000 rooms on cruise ships for 2022 tournament."

A spokesman for the authority confirmed on Monday that this equated to space for 12,000 fans.

It is not yet clear where the cruise ships will be docked but as part of Qatar's huge $200-billion (190-billion euros) capital spending project, ahead of football's most prestigious tournament, the country is building a new port south of the capital, Doha.

FIFA guidelines say Qatar must have 60,000 rooms available for fans by 2022.

Ambitious Qatar though has pledged to make 100,000 rooms available.

This however may lead to thousands of hotel rooms going empty once the tournament, being played in November and December 2022, finishes.

Housing football fans offshore may ease any problems of hotel room over-capacity and it could also help with the thorny issue of alcohol.

AFP

Abuja carnival 2010

If you intend visiting Nigeria in the month of November, then the Abuja carnival is the place to be.
Nigeria's cultural diversity is phenomenal. An exploration of this diversity will no doubt take an adventurer on a journey into hundreds of cultures with individual uniqueness and peculiarities.

The 2010 Abuja Carnival edition which coincides with Nigeria's Golden Jubilee Anniversary will feature remarkable sights and sounds of Nigeria, showcase the creative spirit of Nigerian people, hospitality and passion for festivity.

Abuja Carnival in its sixth edition is gradually assuming the status of Africa’s most prestigious, colourful and prominent cultural carnival. Events ranging from street parties, Floats, Boat regatta, Durbar, Masquerade displays, Music concerts, Exhibitions, After-parties, and Food fair have been carefully selected.


MAIN CARNIVAL EVENTS
26th November 2010
• Cultural Exhibition - 4.00 pm
27th November 2010
• Main Street carnival at 9.00 am
(Carnival Routes)
• Opening Ceremony at Eagles Square - 5.00pm
28th November 2010
• Youth & Children Event
• Durbar - 3.00pm
• Exhibition of the Traditional Cuisine at OPG - 5.00 pm
• Cultural Night - 7.00 pm
29th November 2010
• Street Show for Masquerade
• Boat Regatta at Jabi Dam at 3.00 pm
• Command Performance at Transcorp Hilton - 7.00 pm
30th November 2010
• Second Street Carnival - 9.00 am
• Closing Ceremony at Eagles Square -
5. 00 pm
27th - 29th November, 2010
• Musical Fiesta at the Eagles Square - 7.00 pm till dawn

28,000 Nigerians maybe denied passage

Twenty-eight thousand Nigerian pilgrims who were supposed to arrive in Israel in the upcoming months will have to find payer fervently, after the Transportation Ministry’s security department barred El Al from flying to the Abuja for fear of terrorist threats.
According to Rafi Ben Hur, a senior deputy director-general at the Tourism Ministry, the pilgrims were scheduled to fly on El Al chartered planes leased to a local airline in a series of flights between November to January.
The planes, El Al’s Boeing 747-400, were to be leased to Nigeria Airways, but operated by El Al’s crew and cabin staff.
As a safety precaution, the airline’s logo and symbols were to be removed.
“The massive pilgrimage is a state project in Nigeria. They subsidize the Christian’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land, just as they do the Muslims’ pilgrimage to Mecca. We cooperate with the Nigerian government on all tourism related issues and attempt to remove all the obstacles they encounter,” said Ben Hur.
“The Transportation Ministry won’t let any Israeli airline fly to Nigeria, so the solution will probably have to be based on foreign airlines. The biggest looser in this case is El Al, which was forced to give up on a large amount of passengers.”
Ben Hur was optimistic that a solution would be found and that the thousands of tourists would make it to Israel.
“We are meeting with the Nigerian ambassador this evening and with the organizing team on Sunday. I’m sure we will be able to work out a solution. We do not plan to give up on these groups, their visits mean too much for us,” said Ben Hur.
According to Ben Hur, the Nigerian pilgrimages have been taking place since the beginning of the decade and the number of people continuously grows every year.

“We owe a great appreciation to the Nigerians. They were the only tourists that arrived in Israel in our hardest times, during the second intifada. When everyone else stayed away, they continued to arrive and filled up our empty hotels,” said Ben Hur.

“Even today, when tourism numbers are back up, they help us out during the quietest time of the year.

“Twenty-eight thousand people visiting Israel for 10 days contribute a great deal to the tourism industry and the national economy by staying in hotels, dining in restaurants, renting buses and hiring tour guides. They are also the nicest visitors we could ask for,” he said.

Ben Hur added that he hoped the Tourism Ministry could intervene on the pilgrims’ behalf before the Transportation Ministry, but said he honored its position and wouldn’t compromise security.

“It would be a shame if they can’t fly directly to Israel. Any stopover reduces the length of their stay here and too many logistics may reduce the number of arrivals,” said Ben Hur.

In March 2009, Israir brought about 15,000 pilgrims from Nigeria to Israel in an airlift operation involving some 60 flights that lasted more than two months.

Both El Al and the Transportation Ministry declined to comment on the issue.

Romanian Special Envoy envisions Improved Qatar Ties


The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Ambassador at large or Special Envoy, Vasile Sofineti recently visited Qatar to boost the relationship between its Country and Qatar, with other Gulf Countries.

The Ambassador at Large visited the Ministry of foreign Affairs , where dialogue and discussions centered on opening new bridges of understanding and partnership between the two nations.Also the meeting touched on ways of boosting relationship and creating a portfolio of opportunities for Qatari business men and other GCC nationals.

The visit to Qatar is the first in the region by the Ambassador who will visit other Gulf Countries in the coming days.

The Ambassador said, " My Mission is not easy but it has the chance to succeed, we are organizing a Romanian Business Forum come next April 2010, the forum is for Romanians, Central European and GCC businessmen to come see the business potentials and opportunities in Romania .A Cultural display by participating nations is also on cue, am thrilled with the meetings that i had, and with the ideas that i got from all those meetings, which help fulfil my mandate"

"Am Promoting the ideas of partnership, we invite Qatari business men to look into the Romanian Market, where they will find a lot of opportunities and they can be assured of our full support", said Vasile Sofineti.

"Romania has excellent Political relations with Gulf Countries, the Political dialogue is very sincere and friendly,in the last 20 years we align our relationship with the European Union and NATO because they are closer and we are in the same Continent, we want to ignite and open new bridges with friends"

"Traditionally we have had a lot of Arab Students studying in Romania now we have a few thousands, because of that we have large numbers of Arab Communities in Romania.So many have taken Romanian Citizenship, the people who study in Romania are large assets for us"

"We have had good economic ties with the Arab World.We can work together in oil inspection field, we can also assist the big projects that Qatar is envisaging, like the security systems in the new airport, also Information technology, though India is close, we have had successes in Tunisia. In Tourism and Agriculture there is open invitation to know each other better as a member of the EU and NATO, am sure Romania will be a pleasant surprise for Qatari businessmen.

The new Ambassador at Large for the relations with Arab countries in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is a Journalist Cum Diplomat, he served as Editor in Radio Bucharest (1978-1990)in charge of Persian Language, he has also served as Ambassador in Jordan, India and accredited to Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

UAE plans towards sustainable tourism.

The DTCM has announced the official launch of the first-ever initiative to reduce carbon emission (CO2) in the hospitality industry by 20 per cent by the year 2011.

The launch is together with the Dubai Green Tourism Award which will be in line with the World Environment Day.

The initiatives are part of the department’s ambitious Sustainable Tourism agenda for the emirate, a sought-after tourism destination in the world.

The award, to be presented in December 2009, is expected to attract 200 hotels from three, four and five stars and deluxe hotel apartments who are eligible to compete for the annual honours.

This was announced at a Press conference held on Wednesday at the InterContinental Hotel Dubai Festival City. It was addressed by Mr. Eyad Ali Abdul Rahman, DTCM Executive Director Media Relations and Business Development, Ms. Shaikha Al Mutawa, DTCM Director Business Development, and Mr. Majid Saqr Al Marri, DTCM Director of Hotels Classification.

Mr. Eyad Ali Abdul Rahman said: “The programmes are part of the department’s efforts to introduce best practices to improve the service standards and excellence in tourism industry. This is a major initiative designed to encourage and acknowledge the significant efforts of the emirate’s tourism industry towards the Sustainable Tourism.”

The department, recognizing the issues associated with global warming, has undertaken as one of its Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) the initiative to reduce by 20 per cent carbon emissions within the hospitality sector by 2011.

He said the initiative focuses on conservation of natural resources and sensible use of energy, water and gas etc. as their excessive use causes degradation in the environment by disturbing the eco balance in the atmosphere.

He said this initiative is in line with vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to turn Dubai into a green and environmentally-responsible community. Environment conservation and protection has been emphasized in the Dubai Strategy Plan 2015.

The main objectives of the initiative are to increase awareness about the global warming and CO2 emissions and energy usage in the tourism industry, encourage environmental practices in the hospitality industry, introduce new initiatives that highlight the importance of CSR programmes and develop awareness and educational culture within hospitality sector about the sustainable tourism.

Mr. Majid Saqr Al Marri, DTCM Director of Hotels Classification, gave a presentation about the Dubai Green Tourism Award website and offered comprehensive information about the Dubai Green Tourism Award 2009 submission process. He said applications of the award can be submitted in person at a special counter being created on 10th Floor of DTCM Head Office and also online through the website being created by the department.

Ms. Shaikha Al Mutawa, DTCM Director Business Development, said submission of applications for the award will be accepted until July 7 followed by awareness workshop on Sunday, 21st June 2009. From July 8 to 22, the evaluation process will be conducted with the awards presentation ceremony to be conducted in December 2009.

She said by embracing sustainability initiatives, Dubai hotels can gain a competitive edge that would undoubtedly have a positive impact on like-minded tour operators.

In Dubai, the average hotel produces 6500 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annual and the size of the carbon footprint produced by all hotels in Dubai, is estimated to be over 500 million kilos a year - equivalent to 60,000 round-trip flights between Dubai and London.

A high-level panel of officials and experts will evaluate and assess the submissions for the award in a two-tier selection process which will be of international standard. A judging panel will also visit the participating hotel establishments. The assessment will cover the participating organisation’s environmental strategy and environmental issues that their initiatives and programmes addresses, history of environmental performance of these initiatives and education and awareness.

The award sponsors are EcoVentures, M.Can, InterContinental Hotel Dubai Festival City, and Philips. The Press conference attended by Shezan Amiji, Director and CO-founder, Eco Ventures, Louis Hakim, Vice President, Royal Philips Electronics CEO Philips Middle East, Shadi Hassan, General Manager MCAN and Steven Greenwood, General Manager Inter-continental Hotel.

DTCM appointed Farnek Averial to conduct and implement the DTCM CO2 Reduction programme.