QHA signs an MOU with Italian Association of Hoteliers

• Discussing ways to develop cooperation with the Italian Minister of Tourism
• Qatari Hotels Association signs an MOU with Federalberghi for Italian hotels
• Massimo Garavaglia, Minister of Tourism: We welcome Qatari investments in hotels in Italy
• Sheikh Faisal: Italy is a touristic destination, and the memorandum of understanding aims at enhancing bilateral cooperation

Doha – Rome
The Qatari Hotels Association signed an MOU with the Italian hotelier’s association Federalberghi in the Italian capital, Rome. Federalberghi is the largest organization concerned with the hotel and tourism sector in Italy and includes 27 thousand hotels as members. The agreement was signed by His Excellency Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, QBA Chairman and His Excellency Mr. Bernabe Boca, Chairman of Federalberghi.
From QBA, Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal al Thani also attended the meeting in addition to Sheikh Turki Bin Faisal Al ThanI, Mr. Tarek Al Sayed Artic CEO as well as Ms. Sarah Abdallah, QBA Deputy General Manager.
During the meeting, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, QBA Chairman said that this agreement is the first for the Qatari Hotels Association outside the State of Qatar and will be followed by other agreements. He also added that Italy has been selected as one of the world’s leading destinations for tourism, adding that “with the World cup approaching, we need to seize the opportunity to promote our country Qatar as a touristic destination to attract international football fans and to introduce Qatar’s readiness for this global event, and as we previously emphasized, Qatar’s hotels are ready for the fans and tourists from the different continents”
For his part, Bernabe Boca, Chairman of Federalberghi, stated that the Italian organization is a leading organization in the tourism and hospitality sector in his country, expressing his desire to cooperate with the Qatari hotels to enhance partnership with the Qatari market, stressing out that they have more than 27,000 hotels out of a total of about 33,000 hotels in Italy, through 131 regional associations. He added that Federalberghi is also a founding member of the European Federation of Hotels and Restaurants, along with other international organizations.

Agreements
The two parties agreed to strengthen economic ties and relations between the two countries and to continue promoting bilateral cooperation in the hotel sector between their members. The memorandum of understanding will support in promoting tourism investments between the two countries, analyzing and evaluating the regional and sectoral potentials for tourism with the aim of sustainable regional and economic development, in addition to engaging in strategic dialogue for investment and partnership opportunities.
Meeting the Italian Minister of Tourism
The delegation of the Qatari Hotels Association met with His Excellency Mr. Massimo Garavaglia, the Italian Minister of Tourism, where he welcomed the delegation and expressed his happiness at the signing of the agreement between the two organizations.
He pointed out that there are many investment opportunities in the tourism sector in the country, noting that the tourist attractions in Italy are an important and ancient cultural and historical aspect, and his country is full of innovative international products in their design, such as: the automobile industry, international fashion design and other fields, which are on the list of priorities of the modern tourist, pointing to Italy’s interest in encouraging investment in all tourist regions, but the greatest need in the main cities will remain for 5-star hotels, which are more demanded by tourists.
For his part, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim stressed out the importance of Italy as a key location in global tourism, which attracted the interest of the Qatari Hotels Association to cooperate more with Italian associations to further push investment and cooperation in tourism and to explore more hotels and cooperation in order to enhance the Association’s presence in the tourist countries in the world and strengthening its investment portfolio and benefiting from the Italian experience, which is exemplary.