QNCC aims to become ‘phygital’ provider of events

Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) aims to expand its scope of activities to event organising and digital activities, a top official told Gulf Times in an exclusive interview."Our idea is to expand the activities from a venue provider to event organiser and digital activities," explained QNCC general manager Robert Tripoli."We are very excited about next year as we have signed several agreements in this regard. Digital activities are more and more an important part with the events industry. We aim to be a 360 degree event provider for our customers and not purely a venue provider, ” he said.QNCC's strategy is to become a complete player within the events industry in the country leading to the realisation of the Qatar National Vision 2030 and help the country increase the footfalls from abroad."We are in talks with some of the partners to bring some international events here. We would love sooner than later to become a ‘phygital’ provider of events,” Tripoli stated. Phygital (physical plus digital) is a marketing term that describes blending digital experiences with physical ones.The official noted that QNCC will wrap up 2023 with 114 major events. "Towards the end of last year we were hosting the international media centre for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Then we had several major events like the UN Least Developed Countries Congress among others. Towards the end of this month we will host WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) and GPCA (Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association) Forum in December. We have already reached over 90% of the pre-Covid levels.”Tripoli said that QNCC is the main venue for academic and professional congresses as well as for concerts in Qatar. Relating to his experience as the head of the major convention centre in Milan which is about 45km away from the city centre, he said that the location of QNCC is a great advantage."The location is a great advantage for QNCC because with all the connectivity to the place, distance is not an obstacle for people to reach here. There are multiple options and lot of parking spaces for the visitors. All in all, it is at a great location for everyone to reach. Moreover we are in the centre of the Education City and it is most ideal place for all the academic, health and professional conferences,” added Tripoli.