Festival boom time for Doha retail and tourism sectors

Doha hotels were full to capacity, shopping malls drew record crowds, and the entire tourism and retail sectors enjoyed a bumper trading period.

Ibrahim Al Sayed, board member at Qatar Tourism Authority, commented that the economic stimulus was an important aspect of the festival along with the overall objectives of providing family entertainment and giving Qatar a marketing boost.

"First and foremost, we wanted to provide a varied programme of entertainment that would appeal to families and all age groups - whether resident or visiting - in keeping with the spirit of Eid," he said.

"Once that is in place, the economic benefits will follow, while we also trigger a strong marketing impact - boosting inbound tourism traffic and raising the profile of Qatar regionally and internationally.

"Qatar is the only Gulf state that presents two Eid festivals and we now look forward to putting on an equally enjoyable programme for Eid Al Adha in two months' time."

Management at participating shopping malls agree that the action-packed programme of fun and entertainment drew crowds beyond their expectations as residents and visitors took the festive atmosphere to heart.

Ruediger Dany, centre manager at City Centre, says the festival drew the biggest crowds in the mall's five-year history.

"On a normal day, we have roughly 35,000 people here. On a good weekend, we can expect 50,000-60,000. But during the festival, we have had at least 70,000 - and on every single day.

"There was a great mix of local families, expats, and visitors and they all appeared to be enjoying themselves enormously. We've never seen anything like it and it's been absolutely amazing!"

Similar comments came from Marwan Samhadaneh, general manager at The Mall.

"I'm very happy, our customers are very happy, and our tenants are very happy," he said. "The festival brought really nice things to The Mall and the impact was excellent. Although we haven't yet got final figures, I know that the footfall was significantly higher than we've ever had before at comparable holiday periods.

Hyatt Plaza management was also full of praise for the way that the Eid festival boosted trade.

"This was far, far better than we had expected," said marketing executive Darren Khor. "We're very happy with the results and with the performances that were staged here.

"Our shoppers were very pleased by the shows, and overall, the event was very good for our mall. We still haven't got official traffic figures, but from experience I can tell that they will be very good indeed."

Ibrahim Al Sayed congratulated everyone involved in the festival for their contribution to making it such a success.

"The Qatar Government, the Doha municipality, Qatar Media Services as event managers, the performers, and the spectators, and everyone who has been part of or has been touched by the event all played vital roles in making the 2005 Eid Al Fitr Festival such a memorable occasion," he said.

"Our resident community had a really enjoyable time, as did our visitors. And our performers who came from all over the world now leave as fans of Qatar who will spread the word wherever they go about our country and what we can achieve.

"We look forward to presenting ever more exciting programmes as our future festival plans are implemented. What we have seen over the past five days is a foretaste of what Qatar and Doha can deliver.

"In the years to come, our vision is to present even bigger and better events, constantly improving the content, the organisation, and every other aspect so that Qatar achieves a global reputation for staging festivals that are synonymous with excellence."