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Business travelers make up 45pc of Mideast visitors

DUBAI — Saying that 45 per cent of visitors to the Middle East are business travellers, Qatar National Hotels (QNH) Company yesterday announced what it described as the "new hospitality concept" for the region.

In a conference at the second day of the ongoing Arabian Travel Market (ATM), QNH said it would soon open two new-generation Merweb properties that are being constructed in the Qatari capital of Doha. The properties would be operated on a dual tier through Merweb Hotels and Merweb Grand.

In a statement, Shaikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, QNH chair, said the number of business travellers to the region would increase by more than 100 per cent in the next 10 years. He also noted a considerable gap in the provision of business hospitality, saying that businessmen have unique and specific needs.

"With Merweb, QNH will offer built-for-purpose business hotels that are dedicated to business travellers-executives of large corporations, and managers and owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises," Al Thani said.

He said the first two hotels-Merweb Grand City Centre and Merweb Hotel Old Ghanem-are just the start of a series of projects in Qatar and the entire region.

Yousef Darwish, general manager of Marweb Grand, stressed that Qatar is booming, and that a number of local and international cultural events are contributing to its ongoing economic and tourism progress.

"Qatar will be in the tourism map [of the region] by 2010," Darwish said in a Press conference.

QNH also announced the opening of its Sharq Village & Spa, a luxury hotel in Doha. Managed by Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Sharq is one of the largest spa centres in the Middle East, and the first to showcase Qatari culture and traditions.