QATAR Tourism Authority (QTA) has confirmed plans to introduce a new addition to Qatar's calendar of festivals and tourism events during 2017. The new festival is part of QTA's strategy to grow and diversify Qatar's tourism offering, particularly in the area of family and urban entertainment. The festival will be organized by QTA, in collaboration with public and private sector partners, to reinforce Qatar's position as a preferred family vacation destination within the GCC region. The new festival, which will be announced in December, will focus on Qatar's burgeoning retail sector, which has proven to be an important part of tourism spending in Qatar. According to figures from Qatar's Tourism Satellite Account – a system approved the United Nations for establishing the impact of tourism on a country's economy - shopping represented a bigger portion of tourism spending in 2014 than hotel bookings or food and beverage, bringing QAR 6 billion to the country's economy. QTA organizes a number of country-wide events including Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) and Qatar Summer Festival (QSF). Figures for March and August 2016, when these events were held this year, showed an increase in visitor arrivals, encouraging QTA officials to explore new events that support the performance of the country's tourism sector.
