Qatar News

3 months ago

Qatar Airways Announces Stopover Stays For Residents Of UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait And Oman From Just $14

Qatar Airways Holidays has announced a curated collection of Qatar Stopover packages for travellers across the GCC region. Travellers booking their flights on Qatar Airways’ global network of over 170 destinations now have the option to transform one holiday into two by stopping over in Qatar for up to four nights. Designed to bridge the journey and the destination, these packages will allow GCC travellers to explore the vibrant city of Doha, all while enjoying Qatar Airways’ signature hospitality and personalised world-class service, even on short stays. Qatar Airways Holidays stopovers The new Stopover packages will remove the need for separate reservations and enable travellers in the region to streamline their travel plans through a new and improved booking process that incorporates flight and hotel bookings in one comprehensive itinerary. Discover Qatar and Qatar Airways Holidays’ Senior Vice President, Steve Reynolds, said: “We are delighted to introduce Stopover packages to our valued GCC travellers. As a world-class destination, Qatar’s offerings range from its rich cultural heritage to its modern attractions and through our new Stopover packages, we want to make it as accessible and convenient as possible for our customers to experience the beauty of this stunning country.” Enabled by Qatar Airways […]

3 months ago

Is The World’s Best Airport – Hamad International Airport – Really All That?

Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha, Qatar was listed as the World’s Best Airport in the 2024 Skytrax World Airport Awards. This is the third time it has won the award – the first was in 2021, and then again in 2022. Last year, Singapore Changi Airport held the title, but it slid down to the #2 spot in the 2024 list. Changi has actually won the award 12 times, including its consecutive wins from 2013 to 2020, but since the pandemic, HIA has been its “fiercest” rival. Alongside the main award, HIA was also named the World’s Best Airport For Shopping this year. Recently, while on a trip to Europe, I got the chance to stop at HIA for two layovers, both of which were late at night. During the first layover, the plane landed at HIA just before midnight, but there was still a sizeable crowd at the airport, and a lot of the shops were buzzing with travellers. The immigration process was pretty seamless, though I did have to wait in line for a bit as there really were a lot of transit passengers. Going through security was not a nice experience. I had a bottle of […]

3 months ago

Qatar Plans $5.5 Billion Development With Disney-size Theme Park

Qatar is starting work on a new 20 billion riyal ($5.5 billion) tourism development that will be centered around a large amusement park that’s poised to be bigger than Walt Disney Co.’s iconic Magic Kingdom. The Simaisma project will be located about 40 minutes north of Doha, Qatar’s capital, and ultimately span 8 million square meters (1,976 acres) along 7 kilometers of beachfront land. The development is also set to include an 18-hole golf course surrounded by 300 villas, luxury resorts, a marina and beach club, as well as homes and shops. Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, a unit of the state’s sovereign wealth fund, has been appointed by the government to manage the development of the project. “The anchor is the theme park and that phase will be coming first to attract more people to come and invest,” Qatari Diar Chief Executive Officer Ali Mohamed Al-Ali said in an interview. “It’s part of the government strategy to diversify the economy and invest in the tourism pillar.” The development is part of Qatar’s yearslong efforts to transform itself into a vacation destination. Qatari officials have said they want the tourism industry to ultimately contribute 12 per cent to the […]

3 months ago

Qatar Enforces A Strict Dress Code For Government Employees: No Sports Shoes With Traditional Attire

Qatar has set strict dress code regulations for employees across ministries, government agencies and public bodies during work hours and at official events. The office of the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Circular mandates that Qatari male employees must wear the traditional attire — a thobe, ghutra, and egal. A notable inclusion in the circular is the ban on sports shoes while wearing traditional Qatari attire such as the bisht, thobe and ghutra, unless a medical reason is provided. For non-Qatari male employees, the dress code requires a dark-coloured suit with a matching shirt and tie. The circular specifies the colour of the bisht to be worn at official occasions, varying by time of day: white in the morning, blonde at midday, and black in the evening, with specific guidelines for winter. ModestyFemale Qatari employees are expected to wear a traditional abaya and head covering, while non-Qatari female employees are required to wear formal business suits that suit the work environment. The circular emphasises modesty, banning short, tight clothing and bright colors, and mandates that makeup must be “appropriate.” These measure aims to maintain a formal and professional appearance at all times. The directive also covers general appearance rules, […]

4 months ago

GCC eSports League 2024 Finals: Saudi, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar Teams Go Head-To-Head at Rocket League and Tekken 8

The Saudi eSports Federation has announced that Riyadh will be hosting the GCC eSports League 2024 finals from June 27 to 28, 2024. The championship will feature competitions in Rocket League and TEKKEN 8, with a total prize pool of $150,000. This tournament is the latest addition to the growing gaming scene in the Middle East; it will feature elite professionals and top clubs from six countries competing in thrilling matches. The league’s first event started with the group stage and ran from May 12 to 21. Twelve teams from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE competed in an online Rocket League tournament, one of the world’s most popular titles. President of the Saudi eSports Federation Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan emphasised the Kingdom’s dedication to developing the esports sector, supporting talents, and organising top-notch events and tournaments. Among the contenders are Kuwait’s Xenon Esports and Oman’s National Team B, which secured their spots in the finals as winners of Groups A and B, respectively, in the first online stage of the tournament. Other strong competitors include Bahrain National Team, Unity Esports from Kuwait, KHK Esports from Bahrain, Twisted Minds, and Team Falcons representing Saudi Arabia.

4 months ago

Central Bank of Qatar Announces CBDC Project

The Central Bank of Qatar recently announced the completion of the infrastructure development supporting an in-house-built CBDC. The bank estimates that the project will enter its experimental stages this year in October, allowing several national and international banks to test the functionality of this pilot by facilitating large payments among them. Qatar Announces CBDC Experimental Pilot Project More countries are interested in issuing their central bank digital currencies. The Central Bank of Qatar recently announced the completion of the development stages for its central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure. According to official news reports, Qatar’s CBDC project will serve “to keep pace with the rapid global developments in this field.” The project seems to be a wholesale CBDC, as the bank announced it will start to test the implementation of this development in October 2024 with national and international banks, testing transactions of large payments in a trial environment. Qatar’s CBDC pilot will focus on institutional adoption, mentioning increased access to capital markets for banks operating in the country, enhancing domestic settlement, and improving the efficiency of securities transactions as the objectives of this project. This move is part of a national strategy involving new technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence […]

4 months ago

Qatar Airways Introduces Free Starlink Wifi Onboard

Qatar Airways has announced the introduction of Starlink’s innovative high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi on three of its Boeing 777-300 aircraft Q4 of this year as part of the initial phase of its rollout strategy. This strategic move reinforces the airline’s commitment to enhancing the passenger experience onboard, with plans to progressively extend SpaceX-powered technology across its entire modern fleet within the next two years. The announcement was made on the second day of the Aircraft Interior Expo in Hamburg, Germany, in the presence of Qatar Airways Group CEO, Badr Mohammed Al Meer, and Vice President of Starlink Engineering at SpaceX Mike Nicolls. By offering ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity of up to 500 megabits per second per plane, Qatar Airways’ passengers can enjoy high-speed and low-latency internet access with a simple ‘one-click-access’ to a variety of internet-based services such as video streaming of their favorite entertainment and sports videos, online gaming, enriched web-browsing, and much more. As the first-ever service of its kind in the MENA region, the collaboration with Starlink marks a new milestone for Qatar’s national carrier.

4 months ago

Qatar’s Offer To Build 3 Power Plants To Ease Lebanon’s Electricity Crisis is Blocked

Lebanon’s political class, fuel companies and private electricity providers blocked an offer by gas-rich Qatar to build three renewable energy power plants to ease the crisis-hit nation’s decades-old electricity crisis, Lebanese caretaker economy minister said Thursday. Lebanon’s electricity crisis worsened after the country’s historic economic meltdown began in October 2019. Power cuts often last for much of the day, leaving many reliant on expensive private generators that work on diesel and raise pollution levels. Although many people have installed solar power systems in their homes over the past three years, most use it only to fill in when the generator is off. Cost and space issues in urban areas have also limited solar use. Qatar offered in 2023 to build three power plants with a capacity of 450 megawatts — or about 25% of the small nation’s needs — and since then, Doha didn’t receive a response from Lebanon, caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam said. Lebanon’s energy minister, Walid Fayyad, responded in a news conference held shortly afterward that Qatar only offered to build one power plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts that would be a joint venture between the private and public sectors and not a gift as “some claim.” Salam said that […]

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Qatar Airways Announces Stopover Stays For Residents Of UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait And Oman From Just $14

Is The World’s Best Airport – Hamad International Airport – Really All That?

Qatar Plans $5.5 Billion Development With Disney-size Theme Park

Qatar Enforces A Strict Dress Code For Government Employees: No Sports Shoes With Traditional Attire

GCC eSports League 2024 Finals: Saudi, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar Teams Go Head-To-Head at Rocket League and Tekken 8

Central Bank of Qatar Announces CBDC Project

Qatar Airways Introduces Free Starlink Wifi Onboard

Qatar’s Offer To Build 3 Power Plants To Ease Lebanon’s Electricity Crisis is Blocked

Recent Posts

Travel Agency Owner on Trial for Misusing Customer Funds

12 Fraudsters Caught in Digital Payment App Scam

Bahrainis Urged to Leave Lebanon ‘Immediately’

Canadian School Bahrain’s Abby Saadeh on Nurturing Curiosity Through Student-Centred Leadership

Expo City Dubai’s Winter City returns in December

Saudi Athletes Will Compete For Prizes Worth Over SR200 Million In 3rd Saudi Games In Riyadh From Thursday

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