Sustainable Tourism Development in Qatar: A Comprehensive Analysis

This report delves into the multifaceted aspects of sustainable tourism development in Qatar, examining the benefits for stakeholders, the advantages and disadvantages of public-private partnerships, and the significance of interactive planning systems. It analyzes factors hindering sustainable tourism and explores methods for resolving conflicts of interest. The report also evaluates the implications of balancing supply and demand, examines the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism, and compares current tourism development issues in Qatar with a developing country. Finally, it provides recommendations for future tourism development in both destinations.

Sustainable Tourism Development
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................4
Task 2:........................................................................................................................................6
Task 3:......................................................................................................................................10
Task 4:......................................................................................................................................13
Task 5:......................................................................................................................................15
Conclusion................................................................................................................................17
Reference List..........................................................................................................................18
Appendix:.................................................................................................................................20
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Introduction
Sustainable development is gaining in importance as it is a development program that aims at
promoting tourism while placing the environment under minimum pressure. It also looks to
provide the local population with a better life style by providing them with employment. Its
main goal is sustenance and sees to it that development is achieved by positive means and
everyone involved in the process-the tourists, the tour agents and agencies, the hotels, etc. are
benefitted from the process. Not only the tourism industry but sustainable development is
discussed in various academic forums. It has become especially popular in recent times when
debates on global warming and its impacts on environment are at an all time high.
The following study will illuminate on the rationale of planned development in the tourism
industry and the various approaches by which it can be achieved. A detailed study on the
need of sustainable development and the current circumstances in relation to the tourism
industry shall be done.
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Task 1
P1.1 Discuss how stakeholders can benefit from planning of tourism developments with
reference to Qatar.
The main authorities in the travel and tourism industry are the local governments, hotels,
tourism agencies, tourists, investors and others. Qatar being an exotic travel location for the
world the government spends heavily on the improvement of the tourism sector.
For the Substantial development in the tourism industry, it is important to make successful
implementation of plan that is depended on the stakeholders of the tourism. For a destination
like Qatar, major stakeholders include tourists, developers, operators, investors, shareholders,
employee, management, and private and public sector like the host community and the
government tourism officials. With the involvement of all these, stakeholders are the major
unit which helps to attain and fulfil the goals of Substantial development in the tourism
industry of Qatar (Alhowaish, 2016).
Benefits of different stakeholders in the planning of Tourism Development in Qatar:
 Tourists: Tourists can be benefitted by getting the good quality of life while
travelling. It is important for Substantial Tourism planning to focus in giving good
quality services (Sharpley and Telfer, 2015) . Moreover, it also provides a valuable
and important experience for tourists by improving the quality of life community or
local people.
 Society: It is also very much beneficial for the society because the planning
development focuses on taking care of environmental and natural resources of Qatar.
 Employee: Employees of tourism and hospitality department are being benefitted by
the substantial planning because tourism creates a good number of jobs and also
provides an appropriate and sufficient salary, incentives and wages to the workforce.
 Investors/shareholders: Substantial planning can lead to high growth in this sector,
which is beneficial for Investors and shareholders as they are getting more in return.
 Tour operators: Substantial Tourism can increase the long-term growth, revenue and
profit of different Tourism operators, which also increases the interest payment and
tax payment for the government of Qatar (Harris, 2017).
 Public and Private Partners: Substantial planning can increase the co-ordination
between the private and public officials of the tourism industry that will lead for better
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public-private partnership, which will further help in giving different services in
overall good quality and sustainable development of Qatar.
Therefore, if these have been planned properly, then every stakeholder will get the benefits
from tourism development planning.
P1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of public/private sector tourism
planning partnerships drawing examples Qatar.
Public and private sector in Qatar follows a policy of sustenance when it comes to planning
for the development of the travel and tourism sector. The collaboration between the two has
resulted in the achievement of goals and it has motivated further collaboration in other issues
of national concern (Giampiccoli and Mtapuri, 2015).
Following are some of the advantage and disadvantage of this partnership between the two:
Advantage
 Planning new tourist attractions and locating them in strategic location throughout
Qatar such that they come within the sight of the visitors.
 Organizing events that provide a wholesome experience to the tourists.
 Uniform consent on the types of facilities that should be provided to the guests.
 Formation of advertisements and brochures that helps in creating attraction for future
tourists.
 Helps in protecting the environment through accurate planning.
 Helps in creating consensus on the quality of services provided at different
destinations.
 Efficient strategizing of marketing along with large scale up scaling of infrastructure.
 Customers can get latest information about various tourist attractions across Qatar,
from both private websites as well as from government sponsored websites and
portals.
 As already discussed it generates large scale employment and ;
 Projects gets completed within timeframe as a result of this collaboration.
Disadvantage
 Expenses are inflated if there is no possibility of reaching a consensus in the planning
stage.
 Discourse might get long and arduous on sharing and distribution of profits
 Although there might be visible increase in the number of jobs created in the private
sector the public sector does not see any immediate effect.
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 Competitive nature of the decision making phase is remarkably reduced.
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Task 2:
P 2.1 Analyse features of tourism development planning at different levels with
reference to the Qatar
In order to bring in social, economical and environmental developments, the process of
planning is undertaken (Epstein and Buhovac, 2014). Planning deals with the anticipation and
need to bring in changes to a system. An advantage of planning is that it supports and
inculcates orderly development in a process. Today, travel and tourism has become one of the
top contributors of the economy of a nation (Sharpley and Telfer, 2015). The revenue
generated from this sector has helped nations to bring in significant development and
prosperity.
A tourism development plan can bring in political, environmental and sociological
developments for a nation. All the development processes incepts with the recognition at sub
regional, regional, national and international levels.
International level:
Various organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) are concerned with the various policies directed towards the betterment of social as
well as economical factors in regards to a nation (Mullan et al., 2016). As for Qatar, it
becomes a must for the nation to focus on the international level since it is a host to major
international events such as the FIFA World Cup 2022, 2019 World Athletics Championships
and others. They should look into that various factors such as International transportation
services, complimentary development of tourist attraction sites and various promotional
strategies that shall successfully manage to attract tourists.
National level:
Many organisations such as the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) came up with the Qatar
National Tourism Sector Strategy (QNTSS) that strives to bring in and promote sustainable
tourism in Qatar. These organisations are private or public bodies that work closely with the
government of a nation to bring in improvements in the travel and tourism sector of the
nation. For instance, it is the duty of these bodies to look into various sectors such as
maintenance of the tourism policy, highlighting policies and other legislations that bring in
development to the tourism sector.
Regional level:
Under this, it remains the duties of the regional bodies of a particular nation to look into that
the needs of the locals residing in the country are met up by the travel and tourism industry.
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When it comes to Qatar, it has to be noted by the policy makers and authorities that the travel
and tourism sector of the country bring in significant development for the people residing
there. Development can be in the form of generation of jobs and duties and betterment of the
standard of living of the people. Also, it remains the duty of the regional bodies to look into it
that the tourists visiting the nation get access to the internal transport networks, development
of the tourist attraction sites and creating accommodations for the tourists visiting the nation
during the various global, national or regional events.
Sub regional level:
In this, the tourism idea mainly depends on the condition of the region in more locally, and
covers certain aspects such as the components of tourist sites, general location of the
accommodation, and the service and amenities available to the tourists who visit the nation.
As mentioned previously, Qatar is a host to various events that experiences heavy footfalls.
Hence, it is a must for the bodies to look into that the tourists who visit the nation during
these times have a pleasant experience and do not have any sort of a problem during their
stay.
Figure 1: features of tourism development planning at different levels
Source: (Created by the Author)
P 2.2 Evaluate the significance of interactive planning systems and processes in tourism
development with reference to Qatar.
There are various approaches organizations can use while coming up with planning systems.
They are:
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 Boosterism
 Conventional Interactive
 Integrated
 Market-led
 Supply-led etc
Interactive Planning system:
To be precise, this planning system is collaborative, co-operative and participatory (Dragouni
et al., 2018). Unlike other forms of planning, interactive planning involves active
participation from the public who reside in a nation. For Qatar, it can be said that it is
required for the nation to employ this form of planning when it comes to the travel and
tourism sector of the nation. The main advantage of Interactive planning is the fact that has
scope of extracting the feedbacks and opinions of the local community (Leigh and Blakely,
2016). Often very hard to achieve, this form of planning is known to bring in coordination
between the policy makers and the common people. Hence, it brings in better chances of the
implementation of the framed or modified policies.
P 2.3 Evaluate different methods available to measure tourist impact with reference to
Qatar.
As mentioned above, tourism has become such a sector that boosts up the economy of a
nation by a huge margin. However, it has to be noted that in order to bring in proper
revenues, it becomes a must to understand the various psychographics related to the tourists.
It becomes a must for companies to measure the impact of tourism of particular nation. The
reason to do so is the fact that it helps calculate the various modifications to the volumes of
tourism (Veal, 2017). It also makes it possible for the authorities to examine both, the
positive as well as negative impacts of visitors during their visits. Further, it contributes
towards developing strategies that help to build sustenance in the travel and tourism sector.
The different methods available to the people for measuring the tourist impact are:
 Classifying national data based on volume and value: With the segregation and
classification of data, it becomes an easy task for the policy makers to classify the
needs of the local authorities individually.
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 Conducting visitor surveys: As in the case of Qatar, it becomes a must for the
authorities to extract feedbacks from the visitors during their visits. Doing this helps
to have a better understanding of the impact of tourists as often it becomes a problem
to conduct a survey from the local bodies on a regular basis.
 Conducting occasional ad hoc surveys: It plays a significant role in understanding the
impact of tourists. This method helps to segregate various aspects such as the purpose
of the visit, be it for business or leisure (Ragab, 2016). In the case of Qatar, the
authorities can classify the tourists in two sectors, one who visit the country for
business purposes and the others who come for leisure and vacation purposes.
 Employing various models such as Cambridge Economic Impact Model and the
Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM) Model in order to conduct
the process of tourist impact measurement in an economic manner.
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Task 3:
P 3.1 Justify the introduction of the concept of sustainability in tourism development
with reference Qatar
Various environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development are
known as Sustainability. To achieve sustainability, it is a must to bring in proper balance
these three factors (Welford, 2016). It can be stated that sustainability in tourism helps to
preserve the environmental resources, protect bio-diversity, and also conserve natural
heritage. Further, sustainability looks into it that the socio-cultural aspects of the local
communities are preserved; their values and beliefs are respected and also promote inter-
cultural understanding among the people of the country.
Lastly, it helps to develop long-term economic operations and profits for all the stake holders
of the tourism sector. Profits can be in the form of stableness of employment, provision of
income opportunities, and efforts to remove the line of poverty (Edgell, 2016). In the case of
Qatar, with the employment of sustainability in tourism, the country’s resources can be
effectively preserved. Also, the community needs shall be met up in the most efficient
manner. Lastly, sustenance in the tourism sector brings in profits and revenues for the
stakeholders.
P 3.2 Analyse factors that may prevent/hinder sustainable tourism development with
reference to Qatar
To highlight the tourism sector, it becomes a must for the policy makers and planners to
highlight and make a note of the issues that might bring in problems and become an
obstruction in the path of sustenance in the tourism sector. Although impactful and
advantageous, it is not possible for countries to implement and bring in sustenance in sectors
such as travel and tourism. The main factors that prevent or stand as a pillar to sustenance in
tourism are:
 Fails to build a theoretical connotation with its ‘parental paradigm’
 Regarded as too ambiguous and contradictory
 Integrity and applicability receive various criticism in both contextual and personal
components
In the case of Qatar, the likes of Global warming, pollution, the destruction of privacy of the
local communities are few of the key factors that shall stand as barriers to sustainable tourism
(Jenkins, 2015). The unrealistic expectations set up by the authorities make it difficult to
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achieve sustenance in the tourism sectors. The improper lifestyles of the locals also provide
potential threats to the scope of sustainable tourism. Being one of the richest countries in the
world, Qatar also has other problems such as political unrest and safety issues. The nation
was also isolated by the ‘Persian Gulf neighbours’ since they felt that Qatar was a state that
promotes and promotes terrorism (Kumaraswamy and Quamar, 2018).
P 3.3 Analyse different stages in planning for sustainability with reference Qatar
To achieve sustainability in the tourism sector is what all the nations strive for. However, as
discussed in the paragraph above, sustainability is not that easy to achieve. The reasons to
bring in sustainability in the tourism sector have been elucidated above. For a country like
Qatar that has received on average a 6% growth rate in tourist arrivals for the period 2012-
2016, it becomes a must for the authorities and policy makers to implement sustainability in
the tourism sector. The reason to do so is that the travel and tourism brings in a lot of revenue
and earnings to the state (Vanhove, 2017).
For Qatar, travel and tourism is a huge contributor towards the economy of the nation. The
large number of tourists, who visit the nation during events such as the business conferences
and the various sporting events, need to be provided with a worth remembering experience. If
that is done, the nation can successfully bring in those tourists again. Moreover, the word-of-
mouth publicity can be achieved that shall bring in more and more tourists to the nation
(Litvin et al., 2018).
In order to attain sustainability, the authorities and the stakeholders need to do the following:
 Enhances tourist attraction
 Addition of all the environmental resources
 Respecting the social and cultural values of local communities,
 Providing social and economical facilities to all main components
 Keeping a check of the changes and modifications
For instance, when visitors arrive in Qatar, they should be provided with optimum facilities
and cherishment. The policy makers need to make sure that the tourists have a nice stay
during the visit. They also have to ensure that the various environmental resources are
preserved and spent excessively. It should also be ensured that the values, traditions and the
beliefs of the local communities residing in Qatar are respected, and looked after by the
policy makers and planners. Further, the impact created due to the tourist visits shall be
maintained and monitored on a regular basis for the purpose of evaluation and assessment.
While framing the policies and creating the plans, it has to be ensured that the opinions and
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the feedbacks of the general public are taken by the authorities. This promotes efficient work
flow and harmony.
Figure 2: Qatar Tourism
Source: (Welcome Qatar, 2018)
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Task 4:
P 4.1 Evaluate methods of resolving a conflict of interests to ensure the future wellbeing
of a developing tourism destination such as Qatar
Many factors stand as a problem when the
authorities and policy makers try to bring
in sustenance in the country. However,
they need to get over those problems in
order to bring in healthy revenue and
significant profits for the country
The common conflicts that arrive in the
sustainable tourism are as follows:
 Differences between the locals and
the stakeholders
 Enclave tourism
 Relationship between the host and
the guest
 Problem in the economic scenario
 Problem in the social scenario
 Problem in the environmental
scenario
 Ethical and Moral issues
 Differences in the demand and
supply
The problems such as the differences of
opinions have high chances of occurring in
the nation of Qatar. As mentioned above,
the country is a host to a lot of global
events such as the FIFA World Cup and
others. It can be said that during the
football extravaganza, a lot of tourists shall
arrive in Qatar and based on their exact
needs and demands, the policies and plans
shall be framed. However, high
possibilities exist that these policies and
plans might not be made in accordance
with the needs of the locals and
communities. This shall give rise to a
conflict.
In order to avoid situations like these, the
following must be done:
 Keeping a check on the number of
tourist who visit the nation
 Limiting the number of tourists
who arrive in order to prevent the
damage to ecosystem
 Bringing in improvements in the
transportation links
 Consulting the communities and
making changes or modifications
based on their needs
 Provide an “off-season” when the
number of tourists is less to nil, in
order to bring in replenishment in
the resources
P 4.2 Analyse the implications of balancing supply and demand with reference to Qatar
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Demand refers to the amount of a product
that shall be offered at a particular price
for a specific time period. Simply put, the
demand for a particular product or service
is inversely proportional to the price at
which the commodity is offered. Coming
to tourism, certain services and
coomodities that shall be provided to the
tourists and occasioned by the journeys of
visitors can be referred to as the supply. In
terms of tourism, it requires the authorities
and policy makers of Qatar to create and
take into account the needs of the tourists
and develop the supply accordingly.
The advantages of creating a balance
between the demand and supply in terms
of tourism are as follows:
 It creates equilibrium in the market
 Provides satisfaction to the tourists
 Helps to create a loyal consumer
base
 Enhances reputation and image of
the nation
 Resolves various conflicts that
might arise due to imbalances
P 4.3 Evaluate the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism in Qatar
Referring to Qatar, enclave tourism offers
the tourists most of the experiences they
are looking for. It does not require the
tourists to get out and search for amenities.
There are two perspectives to look at
enclave tourism. From one perspective, it
seems very advantageous as it provides the
tourists all the amenities and services at
one place. From another perspective,
enclave tourism leaves very less to no
scope for the local people to gain any sort
of profits from the tourism sector.
The moral and ethical issues associated to
enclave tourism are:
 It provides no to less interaction
between the host nation and the
tourists
 They are against the local
communities of Qatar, as these
communities do not get the
opportunity to mix with the guests
 Stands as a barrier between the
communities and the guests. The
former does not get to generate
business from the tourists
 Do not contribute to the economy
of Qatar. All the revenues earned
are not provided to the country for
its development.
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Task 5:
P 5.1 - Compare current issues associated with tourism development in a developing
country and an emerging destination where the impacts of tourism are different. Your
report should be professionally presented such as using comparative tables.
In the following table, the differences between two nations, one a developing and another
emerging nation has been pointed out. The chosen developing nation is Bhutan and the
emerging nation is Qatar. Various aspects such as political, economical, technological and
cultural issues has been elucidated.
Country Political Issues Economical
Issues
Technological
Issues
Cultural Issues
Bhutan 1. Politically
sound
2. Tourists do
not have issues
related to safety
and security
1. Standard of
Living is not up
to the mark.
2. Taxation is
lower.
1. Advent of
technology is
much lower
since the nation
is still
developing
2. More of a
scenic beauty
1. Almost
untouched by
globalization
2. Strong
believer of
Buddhism
Qatar 1. Problems of
terrorism.
2. Genuine
issues of safety
and security
1. Standard of
living is very
high.
2. Taxation is
higher.
1. Advent of
technology is
very advanced
2. More of an
urban and
developed
beauty
Being an Islamic
state, there are
several issues
such as no
alcohol
2. Gender
inequality still
present
From the above mentioned table, it can be said that in Bhutan, the political issues do not
stand as a barrier to the tourism sector. On the contrary, in Qatar, tourism is hugely affected
by various factors such as terrorism and threats to safety and security of the people. On the
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other hand, the standard of living in the state of Qatar is much developed than Bhutan since
the nation is one of the richest in the globe. The use of technology is very less in Bhutan
whereas it is higher in Qatar. Lastly, Bhutan is almost untouched by globalization whereas
Qatar has undertaken globalisation highly. However, various strict norms related to the
country make it difficult for the tourists to visit the place.
P 5.2 – Evaluate, with recommendations, the future development of tourism in these
chosen destinations
In order to develop tourism in the above mentioned countries, the government and policy
makers of travel and tourism need to work and improve certain issues. For Bhutan, they need
to include technology in this sector to provide more convenience to the tourists. On the other
hand, the governmental policies of Qatar need to be a little lenient in order to make it a
pleasant experience for the tourists who visit the nation. They also need to look into the
safety and security factors of the tourists who are supposed to visit the place during the
upcoming global events.
For a country like Qatar which hosts around 80 sports events annually and also other
important events, it becomes a must to employ a proper tourism development plan (Horner
and Swarbrooke, 2016). With the above mentioned recommendations, it shall be beneficial
for both the countries to bring in development in their tourism sectors.
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Conclusion
The above study has been prepared in the form of a report and has described the various
benefits that the stakeholders can get from sustainable tourism development along with the
advantage and disadvantage of partnership in the tourism and travel industry with respect to
the scene in Qatar. The study has illuminate on the rationale of planned development in the
tourism industry and the various approaches by which it is possible to obtain. A detailed and
critical analysis of the need and importance of sustainable development and the current
situation with respect to the industry has also been provided with close reference to Qatar.
The report concludes with a comparative study of the social, cultural, economic and
environmental importance that sustainable development has on the overall development of
Qatar.
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Sharpley, R. and Telfer, D.J., 2015. Tourism and development in the developing world.
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Appendix:
LEAFLET (TASK 1)
21

Stakeholders can benefit from planning of tourism developments
world the government spends heavily on the improvement of the tourism sector. Sustainable development also helps in the booming of various tourist agencies
er ones as well whose livelihood depends on it. As a result of this the tourism sector in Qatar sees a boom and the economy of the
Advantages and disadvantages of public/private sector tourism planning partnerships
Advantage
ist attractions and locating them in strategic location throughout Qatar such that they come within the sight of the visitors.
that provide a wholesome experience to the tourists.
ted if there is no possibility of reaching a consensus in the planning stage.
et long and arduous on sharing and distribution of profits
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PRESENTATION (TASK 3)
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24

25

26

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