{
  "id": 12236089,
  "title": "Qatar seeks practical tech solutions to transform tourism: MCIT official",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/qatar-seeks-practical-tech-solutions-to-transform-tourism-mcit",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-05T21:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf Times",
    "slug": "gulf-times",
    "url": "https://www.gulf-times.com/article/734972/qatar/qatar-seeks-practical-tech-solutions-to-transform-tourism-mcit-official"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Qatar is focusing on practical technology solutions to enhance the tourism sector, according to a Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) official. Amna al-Kaabi, head of Emerging Technologies, explained that the core mission is to transition innovation from conversation to implementation. She highlighted the potential of generative AI, immersive technologies, computer vision, robotics, and connected systems to provide personalised services, smoother visitor journeys, and richer cultural experiences. The MCIT's Tasmu Innovation Lab serves as a platform for stakeholders, government entities, technology providers, and innovators to collaborate, identify challenges, and develop practical solutions for testing through pilots and proofs of concept. Al-Kaabi emphasized that the initiative prioritises technologies that deliver measurable value rather than simply following trends. Tourism was chosen as the focus due to its importance to Qatar's economic diversification and visitor experience complexity, which includes culture, hospitality, transport, and digital services. The lab aims to identify specific challenges and determine which technologies can effectively address them. The focus is on real-world testing to determine the greatest value for visitors and tourism-sector partners. The Tasmu Innovation Lab provides advisory services, research, training, workshops, sandbox environments, and proof-of-concept development to validate solutions before larger investments. The tourism session feedback will be assessed based on potential impact and readiness for testing, with promising opportunities developed into defined use cases for innovators and technology partners. The long-term goal is to create a seamless, accessible, and personalised tourism experience for visitors while helping tourism partners operate more efficiently. This initiative aligns with Qatar's digital transformation agenda under Digital Agenda 2030 by targeting technologies that address actual needs, with testing solutions before wider investment allowing stakeholders to assess what works in Qatar's specific environment and determine which innovations merit broader deployment.",
  "summary": "Qatar is taking a problem-solving approach to tourism innovation, seeking to identify challenges across the visitor journey and turn promising technology ideas into solutions that can be tested and de...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}