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FEW places on earth capture the glory of the past and
the pressing future to create a perfect harmony of both here and
now. With the 15th Asian Games successfully held at the Khalifa
Complex in Doha, Qatar, at the end of 2006 the Gulf State has once
again shown that it deserves top ranking as a leading business city
in the Arabian Gulf.
“There is a buzz surrounding
Doha,” said Gulf Business, the region’s leading monthly business
magazine. “Courted by multinationals, international banks and
regional investors, Qatar and Doha City are suddenly flavor of the
month. Or, if its assured gas-revenue streams are anything to go by,
flavor of the decade.”
The 35-year-old nation is led by
Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, whose vision of overall excellence
in everything including business, sports, infrastructure and tourism
has driven the gulf state’s unrivalled growth. Qatar boasts at
least 6,000 years of history packed in its borders and has parlayed
its topography, heritage and natural wealth into a compelling
tourism magnet. Its majestic 130-feet-high sand dunes and stunning
wind-carved limestone outcrops provide magnificent adventure;
meanwhile, the country is investing in one of the most breathtaking
skylines in the Middle East, with futuristic new buildings by
renowned architects like I.M. Pei and Santiago Calatrava. Perhaps
the height of Qatar’s cosmopolitanism can be gleaned from the fact
that it is home to the satellite television channel Aljazeera, which
has grown in prestige and credibility in recent years.
There is something for everyone
in Qatar. Strollers could walk the length of the Corniche, the main
seaside promenade. There are malls for the inveterate shoppers and
the traditional souqs for the bargain hunters and the more
artistically inclined. The Souq Waqif, Doha’s most atmospheric old
market, is where the Bedouin tribespeople once traded their meat,
wool, weaving and milk for goods not available to them in the harsh
desert interior. Today this quarter is hugely popular with dauntless
tourists who brave the maze of covered alleyways in search of
spices, handicrafts, perfume, incense and traditional clothes and
fabric.
For more topical delights there
are the Al Zubara, one of the country’s many historic forts, the
Doha Fishing Harbor where one could watch dhows (the traditional
wooden boats) bobbing in the Arabian Gulf and a bustling fishing
industry. The desert safari is also a crowd drawer; although it is
not a safari in the sense that one can see a variety of
animals—there aren’t any—it is more of a roller-coaster thrill
in a four-wheel drive. The biggest dunes in Qatar are south of Doha
in the desert between the Sealine Beach Resort and the Inland Sea.
Before venturing into the safari, air is let out of the tires to
increase their tread on the soft surface, providing much-needed
additional grip. The rest is, as they say, a physics-defying
experience.
The Inland Sea is one of the
great natural wonders of the Arabian Gulf. It is not what its name
suggests—a landlocked sea—but a vast, shallow tidal lake
connected to the Gulf by a single narrow channel. It is in any case
a haunting stretch of clear water in the midst of dunes—an oasis,
if you will, for weary travelers.
Rejuvenation is not far, however,
for the traveler who’s soaked in all the sights and sounds Qatar
has to offer, the good news is that Doha has a growing number of
luxury spas. Rated among the world’s best are the Six Senses at
Sharq Village and Spa, and those at the Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton,
Intercontinental, Sheraton, Marriott, and Ramada hotels.
With a hectic, oil- and
gas-driven economy that promises to change more than just the
Arabian landscape, Qatar finds itself in the challenging position of
leadership. Several other major developments are being planned,
among them new hotels, a state-of-the-art international airport, and
the first-of-its-kind Museum of Islamic Art which, when completed,
will be the largest museum of its kind in the world and will be in a
man-made island with access by both land and sea. Arabia’s
glorious history will never been more appropriately celebrated than
by this museum, which is due for completion shortly.
The Qatar International Airport
is becoming the hub of choice for international travel, judging by
the traffic it has seen recently. Qatar Airways, the national
airline of the state of Qatar, is one of the active change agents in
the forging of a proud Qatari global identity. From its hub in Doha,
Qatar Airways has developed a global network of destinations served,
covering Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent
and the Far East.
Shortly before the opening of the
15th Asian Games, Qatar Airways, which manages and operates the Doha
International Airport, opened the world’s only dedicated First and
Business-class terminal at the Doha International Airport. Built in
just nine months at the cost of US$90 million, the
10,000-square-meter Premium Terminal features facilities ranging
from exclusive check-in, duty-free shopping, conference rooms,
nursery and play areas; and spa, sauna and Jacuzzi; and fine-dining
areas. Variations on the theme of water—evoking the eternal
oasis—are featured throughout the Premium Terminal.
Qatar Airways, one of the four
airlines in the world with a five-star ranking for service and
excellence awarded by the independent aviation industry-monitoring
agency Skytrax, expects to more than double its fleet over the next
10 years, to 110 aircraft. To coincide with the opening of the new
Doha International Airport in 2009, Qatar Airways is looking forward
to receiving four twin-deck Airbus A380 “super jumbos.” Qatar
Airways flies 12 times weekly nonstop to Doha from Manila and thrice
weekly out of Cebu.
Indeed, the “Doha Buzz”
promises to take the world by (desert) storm.
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