Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) is poised to attract more international and regional events, QNCC’s Director of Business Development, Trevor McCartney said today. The award-winning Centre is a member of Qatar Foundation.

Speaking at one of Europe’s premier meetings industry trade fairs, IMEX in Frankfurt, Mr. McCartney said the AEG Ogden-managed Centre had already exceeded its revenue target well before the end of the first year of operation, posting an estimated economic impact of QR72.84 million (USD 19.956 million) from overseas visitors.

He said in seven months, QNCC has hosted an impressive 128 events, catering for more than 128,000 visitors.

Mr. McCartney announced that two major conferences and exhibitions would be staged at QNCC toward the end of this year. They are the 25th Universal Postal Union Congress (UPU) from 24 September to 15 October, and one of the world’s largest conferences, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (referred to as COP 18/CMP 8) from 26 November to 7 December.

“QNCC is expected to generate an estimated economic impact of over QR200 million from these two events alone,” he said.

Mr. McCartney said hosting COP 18/CMP 8 represented a major coup for Qatar and QNCC, with a minimum of 15,000 delegates representing governments, international organizations and civil societies from all over the world in attendance.

“The sustainable QNCC building is the perfect setting for climate change discussions as it is purpose-built to gold certification in accordance to the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) standards governed by the US Green Building Council. The Centre was designed to be approximately 32 percent more efficient compared to a similar designed building,” he said.

As part of its drive to attract regional and international interest, QNCC has been actively courting associations in Europe and the Middle East, targeting events from the healthcare, education, information technology and oil and gas sectors. The Centre has also been generating quite an interest for staging live events.

The Centre has already attracted a number of high-profile international events, including the recently concluded 13th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII), the 4th UN Global Forum of Alliance of Civilization, and the prestigious 20th World Petroleum Congress. Some of the regional events include POWER-GEN Middle East, XII Congress of the Pan Arab Association of Pediatric Surgery 2012, QITCOM Conference and Exhibition, 6th International Conference on Environment Mutagens & Human Population, Geospatial Middle East, and many more.

Through its sales and marketing initiatives and participation in regional and international trade shows such as IMEX, the Centre is marketing its strengths of capacity and cutting edge facilities backed by a safe and robust economy in Qatar, to tempt organizers and buyers who until now had never considered the Middle East for their events.

The impressive size and highly flexible Centre appeals to conference, exhibition and event organizers, which allows all the breakout sessions to take place simultaneously under one roof such as the UNCTAD XIII event. That event was attended by 3,500 delegates with all conference and meeting rooms in use for the duration.

Qatar has one of the fastest growing tourism sectors in the world according to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) latest report. Qatar tourism is expected to post a 13% growth rate this year, which is one of the highest growth rates in the world and four times the regional average. The country offers a robust business mix for investors who are in the country in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022, attracting dynamic growth in the transport, infrastructure, construction and hospitality sectors.

QNCC recently won the much coveted title of ‘Middle East’s Leading Exhibition & Convention Centre’ by World Travel Awards (WTA) 2012, the country is on track to become a global business destination.