Qatar’s Emir has passed into law new tourism regulations that require hotels to be licensed by the country’s tourism authority.

The Qatar Tourism Authority in turn will now answer to the Ministry of Business and Trade, the Peninsula reports.

Under the new law, all hospitality groups, tour guides and any activity related to tourism will be required to register with the QTA.

Any company or individual that violates the law could face up to a QR100,000 fine as well as other penalties, according to the report:

The QTA has been given the right to cancel the licence of any hotel or tourism facility if it is found violating the provisions of the law and the cancellation will be effective for a minimum of six months.

The Minister has also been given the authority to cancel the above licences for a similar period in the case of non-compliance with the provisions of the legislation.

Licences for hotels are to be issued for a period of three years, while the tenure of the licence issued for a tourism facility or activity has been fixed at one year.

The QTA has been criticized in the past for not doing enough to attract out-of-town guests to the country.

It will be interesting to see how this restructuring Qatar’s bid to boost business tourism.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by JP Photography