The scheme includes a new $5 billion international airport for Doha to be built on reclaimed land one third the size of the city.

The Qatar development is aimed at luxury tourism and the international conference market. It includes eight new hotels graded four and five star, and making available an additional 2,550 rooms. Operators include some of the best-known international chains, Hilton, Shangri-La, Four Seasons, Marriott and Renaissance.

“Qatar will offer the high end of the tourist market a fantastic travel experience of beach resorts, sun, expansive desert landscapes, a rich Arabian cultural heritage, prestigious hotels and extensive conference facilities, and major international sporting events, all in a very safe environment,” Mr Al-Baker explained to travel business leaders assembled for the fourth WTTC Summit.

“These developments will take advantage of Qatar’s unspoiled natural environment, its golden beaches and the warm turquoise waters of the Arabian Gulf,” said Al-Baker. “A key feature of the Master Plan is the considerable amount of tourism development that will take place outside the city limits of Doha,” he said.

Mr. Al-Baker said tourism to Qatar was expected to more than double over the next six years, from the current 400,000 tourists who visited last year to more than one million by 2010. There will be a significant investment in cultural facilities that will open the doorway to our Qatari culture, including a new landmark public library, a museum of Islamic arts, the promotion of Qatar’s many historic forts and the redevelopment of Qatar’s national museum.