Celebrating excellence and uniqueness: Qatar Tourism Awards

Qatar Tourism Awards (QTA) is a programme launched by Qatar Tourism (QT) in collaboration with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) that aims to recognize and celebrate the contributions made to the excellence and uniqueness of the visitor experience in Qatar. By honouring organizations and individuals who excel in various aspects of tourism, the awards programme strives to elevate the standards of service delivery, promote cultural experiences, and encourage the use of innovative solutions within the tourism sector.

Recognising the importance of visitor experience

The visitor experience is a vital component of the tourism industry, and Qatar Tourism Awards places significant emphasis on the quality of interaction between visitors and tourism workers. The programme seeks to promote performance excellence, ensuring that every day in the marketplace is characterised by high-performing individuals and businesses that prioritise integrity and results-driven approaches. Qatar Tourism and the World Tourism Organization jointly envision the awards as a catalyst for enhancing service delivery standards and exceeding visitor expectations.

Commitment to excellence and sustainability

Qatar Tourism Awards acknowledges the paramount importance of preserving the natural environment, promoting local culture and traditions, and contributing to the socio-economic development of Qatar. Entrants who demonstrate a genuine commitment to these values receive special consideration. Furthermore, the programme encourages broad access to products and services for all visitors, irrespective of gender, age, nationality, language, or disability.

Awards categories

The Qatar Tourism Awards feature three main categories with a wide range of subcategories, resulting in over 50 different awards. The categories are as follows:

• Service Excellence. This category acknowledges organizations and individuals that have consistently delivered outstanding service and created memorable experiences for visitors. With over 33 Service Excellence awards across 14 subcategories for organisations and seven awards across three subcategories for individuals, this category recognizes excellence in the tourism sector.
• Cultural Experiences. These awards celebrate organisations that support visitors in experiencing Qatar’s values, traditions, and heritage. The category includes eight awards across three subcategories and highlights the role of cultural immersion in enriching the visitor experience.
• Smart Solutions. Recognising innovation and technology in enhancing visitor experiences, this category honours organizations that have implemented new technologies, products, processes, or organizational innovations. The six Smart Solution awards, spread across three subcategories, reward excellence in digital information and marketing, visitor mobility and accessibility, environmental conditions, and overall visitor experience improvement.

Timeline and Selection Process

The Qatar Tourism Awards have a specific timeline to ensure a fair and transparent selection process:

• Entries open on 9th May and close on 31st July, allowing individuals and organisations to submit their applications.
• A panel of judges, consisting of prominent businesspeople and representatives from Qatar Tourism and UNWTO, receives the shortlisted entries on 1st August.
• The judges evaluate the submissions and make their final selection of winners.
• The winners will be announced at the Qatar Tourism Awards ceremony, scheduled for 10th November. This prestigious event brings together shortlisted candidates and top officials from Qatar’s tourism sector.

Selection Criteria

The esteemed jury follows specific criteria to determine the winners:

• Experience design, implementation, and impact: the uniqueness and memorability of the experience, its conception, development, promotion, and the results achieved.
• Commitment to the key values: the candidate’s dedication to experience orientation, service excellence, accessibility, and sustainability.
• Enhanced visitor journey: the candidate’s efforts in improving the end-to-end journey for visitors, enhancing efficiency and ease of access, facilitating learning experiences, cultural connections, inspiration, and personal transformation.

The Qatar Tourism Awards represent an extraordinary opportunity for individuals and organisations to showcase their commitment to excellence in the tourism sector. Submissions for the awards are now open. To apply, visit: Qatar Tourism Awarsa official website.