The Shura Council held its weekly session Monday under the chairmanship of its Speaker HE Hassan bin Abdullah al-Ghanim.
At the outset of the session, the Council expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the heinous massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Rafah, which represent a blatant violation of all humanitarian values and international principles.
The Council called on the international community, world's parliaments, and international and regional parliamentary unions to take immediate action and put pressure to stop these brutal attacks and hold those responsible accountable, expressing its full solidarity with the brothers in Rafah, and denouncing the unjustified violence against innocent civilians.
The Council heard a presentation by HE Chairman of Qatar Tourism Saad bin Ali Al Kharji on the strategic plan for tourism 2024-2030, the most prominent policies pursued to revitalise this sector, plans to attract investments to it, and the most prominent challenges facing such efforts.
HE the Speaker welcomed the efforts to advance tourism and encourage investment in it in order to fulfil the goals of national development and the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030, and implement the directives of the wise leadership in this field.
He pointed out that tourism is a stand-alone industry as it has become a complex economy in which the public and private sectors interact to create an integrated tourism experience.
During the presentation, HE the Chairman of Qatar Tourism said that Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 seeks to cement Qatar's position as a global tourist destination by benefiting from the country's cultural and geographical diversity.
He pointed out that developing tourism infrastructure is one of the pillars of the strategy, along with improving the quality of services provided and adopting the best international practices in this field, with the aim of increasing the contribution of tourism to the national economy and attaining sustainable development that takes into account environmental and social dimensions.
Regarding tourism sector policies, HE Al Kharji stated that they depend on a number of key axes, including strengthening partnership between the public and private sectors, facilitating investment procedures, and providing a legislative environment that encourages growth and investment.
Regarding the targeted groups for tourism, HE Al Kharji highlighted that they include a variety of categories, foremost of which are the cultural, sporting, familial and recreational, business, conferences, medical and environmental tourism.
He pointed out that incentives and facilitations are being granted to local and international investors, in addition to streamlining the procedures with the objective of drawing investments to the tourism sector.
He underscored the QT's commitment to executing the Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030, through upgrading this critical sector that constitutes a core pillar in diversifying the national economy, Qatar's standing on the global tourism map and accomplishing the intended objectives to draw 6mn visitors by 2030.
He highlighted numerous milestones that have been accomplished in tourism sector as corroborated by indices and figures, such as the number of tourists that reached 2.3mn in Qatar during the past five months.
In his response to the remarks of the Shura Council members, HE Al Kharji stated that QT is committed to ensuring a unique tourism experience that respects Islamic values and promotes the Qatari inveterate traditions and customs, adding that QT boasts of the Qatari culture and identity and introducing the visitors to them.
The members of the Shura Council emphasised the importance of encouraging domestic tourism and organising a range of tourism events during the entire year at affordable prices for all to ensure that all community members receive high-quality tourism services. Also, they underscored the importance of streamlining the government procedures and tourism requirements to attract tourism investments and offer incentives to conduct tourism projects and activities.
Thereafter, the Council reviewed a draft law to issue the law on child rights submitted by the esteemed government and decided to refer it to the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee for further perusal and submission of its report to the Council.
