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Tribune News Network
Doha
Hospitality Qatar, the country's premier international hospitality and hotel-restaurant-caf` (HORECA) trade show, drew a large number of visitors on its opening day at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center on Tuesday, demonstrating the country's continued attractiveness as a global destination for tourism and hospitality.
The first day also witnessed the participation of more than 153 companies from 16 countries, exhibiting the latest innovation in products and services in the sector.
Minister of Economy and Commerce HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim al Thani, who inaugurated the event, highlighted Hospitality Qatar's importance in driving the country's economic growth through its contribution to gross domestic products (GDP), which is projected to be at 5.2 percent by 2030 from 4.7 per cent in 2015.
Tourism and hospitality are two of the most important pillars in the country's economic diversification programme and integral parts of the national agenda under the Qatar Vision 2030, with more than $40 billion allotted to spur sector development in the next 15 years.
The show also welcomed hotel investors, franchise and retail investors, hotel managers, restaurants managers, bar managers and franchise & HORECA operators seeking to expand their network and generate valuable sales through the various networking and meeting platforms during the three-day event to meet top consultants, investors and business influencers.
The trade show comprises three zones ” Food & Beverage, Supply & Design and Hotel & Franchise Investment, with the latest addition of Food Qatar, which provides a meeting point for local, regional and international food suppliers and manufacturers to communicate with buyers in Qatar's market, which is expected to grow steadily to $1.6 billion by 2020.
The first day also featured the Salon Culinaire, which started at 10 am with creative presentations of wedding cakes, Arabic mezza, sessert, terrine (pate of poultry), beef and fish.
It was followed by the Barista Competition, which features live cooking ("Black Box"), live demonstrations of celebration cake decoration and ice carvings (individual); live cooking of a signature dish. The first day ended with the Salon Culinaire Awarding ceremony.
On Wednesday, the Salon Culinaire continued with a variety of showpieces, including the"Chocolate Show Piece","Qatari Feast","Qatari Dessert" and"Plated Dessert Hors D'oeuvre" (Salty Canap`s).
It was followed by the"Bartender Mocktail Competition" by Tonino Lamborghini Luxury Drink and live cooking shows of chicken and beef specialties. The awarding ceremony for Wednesday's winners culminated the day's events at 6:30pm.
