54th International Youth Hostel Federation Kicks Off in Doha Thursday

International Youth Hostel Federation

Under the patronage of the ministry of sports & Youth, the five-day 54th International Youth Hostel Federation kicks off Thursday with the participation of over 30 countries from around the world, where the conference activities will host the Qatari youth hostels (QYH).

The event coincides with the inauguration of the new headquarters of QYH in Al Sadd which is scheduled to be opened Thursday by HE Minister of Sports and Youth Salah bin Ghanim Al Ali. Likewise, the conference coincides with the celebration that marks the 90th anniversary of the federation's inception which was founded in 1932 to unify youth hostels in the whole world which is considered one of largest youth institutions at the global level, and operates under the umbrella of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and is distributed in 74 worldwide, including over 4000 hostels worldwide.

Executive Director of QYH Ahmed Hassan Al Obaidli said that the conference comes as a result of QYH's winning the hosting of 54th conference during the convention of the 52th conference in Iceland in 2018 where the QYH had gained the overwhelming majority of votes during that time after it had submitted a file supported by a wide spectrum of the state institutions, particularly the ministry of sport & youth which was keen to support QYH and its young cadres to be further qualified to host such vital event making the state of Qatar the first gulf country and the second Arab country that hosts this conference throughout its history which is evidently hosted every two year.

The conference features the participation of an elite of youth hostels experts at the global level, and will discuss an array of topics that concern the global youth hostels movement after the official inauguration next Friday, including youth tourism in particular, in addition to proposing new strategies for youth hostels to be approved during the conference, as well as demonstrating numerous international experiences and proposals by the members of societies and organizations in the international youth hostel federation to further promote the utilization of these ideas in this field, co-opting members of the board of trustees for the Federation, selecting the country that will host the forthcoming edition of the conference, in addition to reviewing the report of the current board of trustees, including its accomplishments and the evolution of international youth hostel federation.

In addition, the financial reports and accounts of the previous period will be approved, including the study of the financial plan for the upcoming five years, as QYH announced that it would co-opt one of its members to contend in the membership of the international federation, where financial director of QYH Hussain Ali Al Hababi will be the candidate for the elections that are due to be held on Friday whose file has been submitted to be a representative for GCC & Arab countries to make sure that Arab countries' voice is communicated to the federation, and for this purpose, a robust campaign was prepared to win the trust of various representatives of countries.

Ahmed Hassan Al Obaidli added that QYH has strenuously worked to prepare this conference sine its success in winning the organization of the event in 2018, and an ambitious plan has been set in alignment with Qatar national vision 2030, in addition to the importance of promoting the state of Qatar as a tourist destination on the map of the global tourism, especially young people. Thus, numerous initiatives have been rolled out to contribute to making success for this conference, the most prominent of these are holding courses in tourism guidance for a substantial number of young people, including "Discover Qatar in 144 Hours" initiative to promote tourism and introduce Qatar as a unique tourist destination, in addition to Kashta program, whether on land or at sea, where these initiatives will be presented on the dialogue table during the conference to be utilized globally, especially after the success these initiatives have made to attain their goals, particularly the tourism guidance program which has contributed to qualifying a plethora of male & female young people in Qatar to be entirely responsible for guiding the tourist delegations across the state of Qatar, whether through this conference or during the hosting of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The 54th International Youth Hostel Federation will be followed by tourist trips for the attendees to various areas in Qatar, including land trips to have further glimpse of the Qatari heritage, and cruises to introduce part of Qatars maritime heritage, including a special visit to one of Qatars World Cup stadiums in pursuit of promoting and publicizing Qatars preparations for the major tournament.

(QNA)