Qatar’s hospitality sector has further improved its guest experience ranking from first place among the GCC to first place in the Middle East, according to the Guest Experience in the Middle East Report, released by hospitality and travel data providers Olery.
The report monitored and analysed more than five million online guest reviews over the past 12 months (1 April 2017 –31 March 2018) from popular sites such as Booking.com and TripAdvisor. Qatar’s score has climbed from 81.7 last year to 84.3, with a 1.2 points gap from second place in the Middle East.
The report measures overall guest satisfaction by analysing different aspects of their tourist accommodation experience, including service, location, cleanliness, room quality, and value for money. In Qatar, hotel room quality and cleanliness were highly rated (8.9 and 9.0 respectively), placing the country in 1st place regionally for both categories. Qatar’s hospitality sector also scored high in service (8.9), food (8.9) and facilities (8.5). According to the ‘guest type’ category, Qatar’s tourist accommodation was particularly popular among families, business travelers, and couples.
Hassan Al Ibrahim, QTA’s Acting Chairman, commented, “Qatar’s hospitality sector has long been a key attraction to the destination, and today it stands as proof that our collective efforts over the past few years to enhance the sector were on track. We are grateful to our partners in the private sector for their willingness to invest in developments that have today made Qatar’s a model hospitality industry for the wider region.” He added, “The Olery report and the guests who have stayed in Qatar’s hotels have recognised that the industry’s top selling points are providing quality facilities, professional service and authentic experiences. These elements continue to be our priority as we work with our partners to build new and diverse tourism and hospitality products, as outlined in the Next Chapter of the Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy.”
The consistently improving guest experience comes after several measures taken by QTA to support the enhanced monitoring of hotel performance, as well as more seamless licensing and regulation systems for the hospitality sector. In addition, the Hotel Grading and Classification system released in 2016 – following extensive collaboration with the local industry, hoteliers and international experts - ensures the star-rating of all hotel establishments reflects their accessibility, reflection of Qatar’s culture, and overall guest experience.
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