Dubai Expo lost; Find out the World Cup in Qatar
Expo Dubai 2020 was the best opportunity to attract tourists and introduce Iran’s capabilities, now there are 8 months left until the Qatar World Cup and tourism programs remain on the table of the working group to study and use the opportunities of the 2022 World Cup.
According to IRNA’s cultural correspondent, the Dubai Expo 2020 ended near Iran, on the southern edge of the Persian Gulf. All those who have experienced visiting this 6-month exhibition event can admit how much Iran’s share of the Expo itself and its side market wave has been. This event could have been an opportunity to introduce more and better of Iran’s diverse capabilities to the world, and now its achievement should be measurable and evaluable, not just a few glorious reports of Iran’s presence among 190 other countries. What is clear is that the golden opportunity of this event was lost, and what experience tells us is that we have eight months to take advantage of the space created until another global event is held in the neighborhood.
The FIFA World Cup is scheduled for November and December 2022 (November and December 1401) in Qatar. Although hosting the FIFA World Cup is a great opportunity and honor for Qataris, it can be considered as an opportunity for the prosperity of Iranian tourism, perhaps in the days of the end of the corona epidemic. This unique sporting event, which is being held for the first time in the Southwest Asia region, has a lot of potential in recognizing Iran’s capabilities and facilities in the field of tourism and even hosting football teams in training camps in the Persian Gulf islands. Of course, achieving these goals requires principled planning and extensive marketing worldwide
From the beginning of Seyed Ezatullah Zarghami’s presence in the Ministry of Heritage, Culture, Tourism and Handicrafts, a headquarters has been formed to take advantage of the Qatar World Cup opportunity, which, if properly increased, will see the presence of foreign tourists in the country; Various agencies and institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Information, Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and other organizations are members of this headquarters.
The tourism program has been submitted to the World Cup Opportunities Working Group
Ali Asghar Shalbafian, Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Ministry of Heritage, Culture, Tourism and Handicrafts, told IRNA about the plans of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage during the World Cup: “A working group has been formed to study and use the opportunities of the 2022 World Cup. The working group is headed by the Ministry of Energy, which hosts the Iran-Qatar Joint Commission.
The plans of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage have been presented to the World Cup Working Group to make the most of the opportunity of this event. The Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts stated: To make the most of this opportunity, such as visa and transportation facilities are provided.
He added: “Fortunately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and other responsible institutions are synchronizing and supporting these programs, and we hope that this program will be approved and entered into implementation sooner than the travel services offices that are interested in activities during the Cup.” Qatar Global are able to launch and operate their programs.
Regarding the visit of the Minister of Heritage and Culture to Qatar and the visit of the Qatari delegation to Iran, Shalbafian said: “The schedule of these trips and visits is being coordinated, but it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy, which has not been informed yet. To take advantage of the World Cup opportunity, all actions are within the framework of a joint World Cup working group.
12 years of intensive planning for a month of competition
Qatar has put a lot of effort and effort into hosting this, and now, despite its small size, is able to host the world’s most important sporting event as the first country in the Middle East, which is sure to attract billions of people in a month. he does. According to plans, 32 football teams from around the world will play 64 matches in Qatar this fall and winter. In addition, tourists from at least 50 countries are expected to travel to the Persian Gulf to watch the tournament, which is being held for the last time with 32 teams.
The FIFA World Cup not only has various benefits for the host country, but also neighboring countries and even the region can benefit from it in the margins of this event. In the previous round of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, nearly 2 million Tourists from around the world traveled to the country, bringing billions of dollars in profits to Moscow. Estimates suggest that the number of tourists who will travel to the 12,000-square-kilometer country of Qatar next winter will be between 2 and 2.5 million.
Decision-makers in the Emirate of Qatar had been preparing for this great sporting event for the past 12 years. That’s why they built eight well-equipped stadiums in their small territory. The total number of World Cup games played in the previous round was played in 12 stadiums in the vast territory of Russia.
Holding the FIFA World Cup is not just about building a stadium, but also about mobilizing a wide range of services, facilities and planning so that a sporting event can be well-received by the world. The issue of hosting teams, hosting tourists and simultaneous transportation, and the stay of thousands of foreigners in stadiums, along with providing security and providing recreational and entertainment facilities for these people, is important at a time when the heavy shadow of the corona has not yet been removed. Also provide health and safety.
A look at the experiences of the hosts of previous World Cups shows that the successful holding of these competitions can not only enhance the international status of the host country, but also attract more tourists and wider foreign investment in the years following the event; On the other hand, this event not only has various benefits for the host country, but also neighboring countries and even the region can benefit from it in the margins of this event.
Iran and Qatar World Cup capacities
In Iran, a few years ago, there were discussions about Iran’s use of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, especially the suitable location, climate diversity and favorable location of the Persian Gulf islands of Kish. Kish Island is less than 200 km from Doha Qatar, which can be reached in less than an hour by air.
The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts announced about two years before the formation of the Tourism Working Group of the 2022 Qatar World Cup with the participation of representatives of relevant executive bodies and extra-sectoral institutions; Although the results of the activities of this working group are not known, but since then, the officials of this ministry believed that holding the World Cup in the neighborhood of our country provides the grounds for optimal use of this opportunity to attract foreign tourists.
In this context, the process of attracting the maximum number of spectators to the country along with the use of sports and recreational capacities of the Persian Gulf islands was on the agenda. Success in achieving this goal can restore prosperity to the country’s tourism industry. Also, introducing the territorial attractions of our country to the spectators of the World Cup, who are mainly young people, unlike traditional tourists, can prepare the ground for their re-appearance or the promotion of Iran by these people in the countries of the world.
On the other hand, in an island like Kish, there is a suitable sports complex with several indoor halls, which is equipped with various sports facilities, grass fields, indoor and beach pools. In addition, tourism activists and officials on Kish Island believe the island has the capacity to build several sports camps to host teams during the World Cup.
The countries of the Persian Gulf have been working for many years
Of course, it should be noted that it is not only Iran that has defined the opportunity to use the Qatar World Cup. Many countries in the Persian Gulf are trying to introduce themselves to the world as much as possible by attracting World Cup tourists in addition to making huge economic profits by investing in economic and propaganda. To make up for the losses of the Corona outbreak from the World Cup tour, where sport, spectators, tourists and the economy are intertwined.
For example, the Emirate of Oman, by introducing its tourist areas, nature, mountains, waterfalls and attractive deserts, is trying to turn its land into a second destination and at the same time football spectators who come to Qatar from all over the world to watch the FIFA World Cup. Oman plans to use the World Cup opportunity to attract $ 7.7 billion in foreign investment to develop the tourism industry to become a major tourist destination by 2040.