Qatari tie-up revives Geneva show

Swiss organisers setting up "ultimate motoring festival" in Doha confirm 2024 rebirth

- STEVE CROPLEY

The organisers of the dormant Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) have announced plans to first lend their expertise to the running of the “ultimate festival of automotive excellence” in Qatar this year and then to bring back the traditional event at the Palexpo exhibition centre in Switzerland next February.

The organisers believe the new event can attract 200,000 visitors to Doha, the capital of a country that bills itself as the “most open” in the Middle Eastern region and is currently basking in the glow of a successful football World Cup.

The festival will be staged between 5 and 14 October – coinciding with Formula 1’s Qatar Grand Prix, to be held at Lusail from 6-8 October – and is scheduled to run every two years thereafter.

It's part of a bold move by Qatari authorities to increase the country's tourist numbers, currently around two million a year, to six million by 2030. Their stated aim is to convert Qatar "from a stopover to a destination".