Client Introduction

Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) aims at promoting Qatar mainly as a family, sport, cultural, business and investment destination, while capitalizing on Qatar's natural attractions and resources as well as on major assets of the country; its remarkable safety and hospitality. A priority is given to preserve cultural and traditional heritage as well as the lifestyle in Qatar.Launched in the year 2000 with the mission to develop, co-ordinate and manage tourism in

Qatar in order to maximize the local economy and to preserve the Qatari culture and traditions, QTA brings together various businesses and agencies that work in tourism in Qatar and gives a new impetus to the development and promotion of the local tourism industry.

Situation & Challenges

QTA planned to develop a web site to enhance communication with the Qatari, regional & international tourists, clients and partners. Major elements of the web site are outlined in the following:

• QTA requirement was for a portal with two separate bilingual sites: Arabic and English. Each site to have its own index page, but a similar look and feel should be shared between both sites. In addition, the static information should be in other 4 languages: French, German, Italian and Spanish.

• The site should have a content management system to enable the QTA staff easily update the site.

• Certain parts of the site are accessible to either authorized parties or registered users only.

• The site management information system should provide comprehensive information about visitors, locations, behaviors and interests.

• The site should have a facility to obtain feedback from visitors and forward it to the designated e-mail address.

• The site should have the facility to broadcast messages to all users.

QTA was keen to develop a site that is attractive, innovative, and out standing, not only in the tourism field, but also across all sectors. For many of QTA visitors, the web site will be their first point of contact , and therefore QTA wanted to be sure that it creates the best impression.

In addition to the development of the site, the project also focused on training and the involving QTA staff. It was essential that the web site development firm has the expertise and knowledge to assist QTA's team update and maintain the site on a regular basis.

For the purpose, a number of Qatari web development firms were invited to bid for this project. After a delicate selection exercise, QTA signed with Afkar Information Technology to execute this initiative.

Solution

Following a well-defined, documented and planned process, Afkar was able to deliver a professional web site taking into consideration all the mentioned requirements and challenges. QTA website provides information and services about Qatar, including geography, history, cultural practices, economy, education, media, health and sports and covers most of the events in the country. It also gives tips for visitors planning a trip to Qatar by suggesting tour operators, hotel promotions, car rentals and useful contacts as well as visa information.

What makes QTA web site special and different is the use of portal-based technology, where all data is stored in a database dynamically connected to the web site. Any update on the database automatically updates the web site, ensuring fast and reliable availability of the latest information.

The website is playing an important role in achieving the QTA’s mission of developing, coordinating, and managing tourism, in order to boost the local economy, adding that QTA also seeks to preserve the Qatari culture and traditions by promoting Qatar abroad.

The site is currently available in English and Arabic but also planned to be available in French, German, Italian and Spanish in three months after site launch. More languages like Russian could be added by the end of year 2003. 

http://www.qatartourism.gov.qa

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