Airline gets £1m to market Wales
QATAR Airways is receiving £1m from the Welsh Government to market Wales as a holiday and business destination to the world.
The two-year marketing partnership is aimed at promoting Wales and the new route into Cardiff Airport to Australia, New Zealand, India and North Asia.
It comes after Qatar Airways started its route between Doha, Qatar, and Cardiff Airport on May 1 this year.
The daily service between the Rhoose-based airport and Hamad International Airport in Doha will provide capacity for up to 150,000 new passengers a year at Cardiff Airport, while the new route opens Cardiff Airport up to a network of more than 150 destinations.
In a bid to “increase Wales’ visibility as both a holiday and business destination”, the partnership has been launched and the Middle Eastern airline is also matching the amount the Welsh Government is providing to spend on the campaign.
Campaign activity includes consumer marketing, media activity and a global campaign on Qatar Airways’ owned channels, while Visit Wales has also been marketing Wales in Australian cities.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The marketing partnership agreement between Welsh Government and Qatar Airways has been widely welcomed as an important mechanism for capitalising on the new flights and for increasing Wales’ visibility as both a holiday and business destination, in key markets. The two-year marketing partnership is promoting Wales and the new route into Cardiff Airport in Australia, New Zealand, India and North Asia.
“Activity includes consumer marketing as well as travel trade engagement and press and media activity and a global campaign on Qatar Airways’ owned channels. The partnership has also enabled Visit Wales’ first direct consumer marketing activity in key Australian cities.”
It comes a week after Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker lsaid the new route was “not performing as we expected”.
He told The Independent: “Cardiff is still not performing as we expected it to perform. We are giving it time. We are hoping Cardiff will come around, passenger-wise. Air freightwise, it’s doing absolutely well – there’s a lot of air-freight demand in and out of Cardiff.”
However, Spencer Birns, commercial director at Cardiff Airport, said they were “pleased” with developments since the service started 10 weeks ago.
He said earlier this month that more than 1,500 customers travelled from Cardiff to destinations on the Qatar Airways network, with top countries including Thailand, Pakistan, India and Australia.
The available capacity that week on the flights to Doha would have been 1,750. This would mean the flights flew out with 84% of the seats filled.
Mr Birns added: “All routes take time to mature and we expect passenger numbers to continue to grow accordingly. We will continue to work closely with Qatar Airways throughout the region and in showcasing Cardiff Airport as an alternative gateway to the UK.”
A statement from Qatar Airways issued at the time said: “We are extremely positive about the future of our route to Cardiff and we are happy to be serving the people of Wales.”