(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar University (QU)'s Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (Sesri) and Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) have signed a memorandum of collaboration to conduct a Domestic Tourism Survey with the aim of understanding and analysing tourism activities undertaken by the country's residents in Qatar as well as during their travels abroad.
The collaboration was developed under a broader framework of co-
operation signed in 2013 between QU and QTA by QU president Prof Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad and QTA chairman Issa al-Mohannadi.
The survey is being developed collaboratively by Sesri and QTA experts and will be conducted each quarter starting from June. It will feed into Qatar's Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), a system for establishing the economic impact of tourism on a country's economy.
The 2013 draft TSA estimated domestic tourism spending at QR9.3bn that directly benefits Qatar's economy, and the planned survey will help refine the estimates and fill data gaps such as proportion of hotel revenue that can be attributed to domestic/resident spending.
The institute will conduct the survey through mobile telephone sampling and targeted survey respondents will include both Qatari nationals and professional expatriates living in Qatar for at least six months.
Sesri director and QU associate V-P for research Dr Darwish al-Emadi will oversee the project from QU's side while QTA chief tourism development officer Hassan al-Ibrahim will oversee the QTA side.
Commenting on the agreement, Dr al-Emadi said: "Qatar is moving in a new direction of promoting the tourism sector as a key driver of socio-economic growth. We are grateful to contribute to QTA's efforts in finding opportunities and identifying concerns and obstacles that will help policymakers in setting the path forward."
"Within the context of our efforts to boost co-operation with stakeholders from the public and private sectors, we signed this memorandum, which will allow us to gather information that will help define the impact of domestic tourism on the overall tourism economy and help determine residents' preferences," said al-Ibrahim.
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