The United Development Corporation (UDC) is likely to revoke its decision to ban serving alcohol at The Pearl-Qatar restaurants.
UDC, the developer of the vast man-made island The Pearl-Qatar, said yesterday the decision to ban alcohol was not permanent and the property developer was looking into the complaints against the decision to declare Pearl-Qatar dry.
“The decision to ban alcohol was temporary. We are receiving complaints from the restaurants and other outlets. We might take a right decision after looking into all aspects of the issue”, UDC sources told The Peninsula yesterday.
When asked what provoked the UDC for a blanket ban on liquor sales in the high-end property, the top UDC official said: “ I am not authorised to comment on that. There are complaints that the decision has led to a significant drop in the daily business of shops. We are looking into it,” he said. The official also denied reports that the UDC’s president and managing director Khalil Sholy’s Thursday resignation was related to the decision on ‘liquor trade”.
As a point of interest, sales at the Pearl restaurants seem to have come down 50% since the ban http://www.qatarliving.com/node/2477674 and this over a holiday period where many expats would be out celebrating over dinner.
Flor has many OFF days, I think its the only days he has. His silly nonesense posts do make amusing reading though, all be it rather tiresome after a while.
haha Adey, I can only assume Flor is having an off day and usually would know better than to bother clicking on a thread title that he apparently has been bored to death with already! Thanks everybody else for the helpful info :D
Flor1212 if it's just "another newbie alchol-related question" why are you bothering to post, thank goodness for pros like you who know how to answer questions on forums correctly... oh no wait.. ;)
Here here to the people putting Doha Chap in his place... no one is getting 'outraged' as the person who started the question, my intent was just to ask a simple question, I don't understand why people are taking the time to write replies that are completely counter-productive of the thread topic. Find something better to do with your Sunday! Maybe a lovely alcohol free meal at the Pearl?;)
Calm down Prism, someone has their cranky pants on today:P pardon me for thinking it was ok for starting a new thread, and if it is causing you so much bother simply don't reply. Lots of lovely helpyful people have been able to make useful comments without sounding like a moody sod!
To be fair DC, I don't see anyone on this particular thread getting outraged.
But I agree with you. Whether it's a temporary or permanent suspension, life will just go back to how it was prior to 3 or 4 eateries selling some wine.
Oh My Dayz! When will you ppl stop ranting and raving and crying to heavens above for the suspicion of booze in Qatar?
This is totally ridiculous¬!!
Well just for the records, Alcohol sales has been suspended only at the Pearl....t¬hat's just one focking tiny area of the fockin city of Doha aight?.
Other outlets and hotels and still got it on their menu, besides if you just care to walk in to QDC I’m sure you can notice the availability of liquor at these stores.
I'm getting very pissed off about the situation here, in the sense that so many expats are just outraged that this one section of the city has had sales suspended!! So they run to Ql ‘to bit-ch about it, as tho if without alcohol, the world would crumbles tomorrow. !!!
PFFFF Give it a fockin rest.
If you need booze that bad, you have a problem.!
And if living in another culture is so difficult because you may not be able to drink, then you might want to consider just going home to your comfort zone.
It's just the price we've had to pay for getting pork at QDC perhaps?
End of the day, we still have QDC plus restaurants and bars in the hotels, as well as the Golf Club.
The only people suffering from this ban are the poor (no pun) fools who invested millions in fancy restaurants at The Pearl and who now are seeing their investment go down the drain.
when it's already a compromise between the host and the visitors.
And surely, the noisy one will keep blah blah blah! It's just a choice between "more money less booze OR less money more booze"! Lol! In Saudi, it's "more money and illegal booze", and the expats survive there!
Qatar’s move to ban the sale of alcohol on its flagship Pearl development may hint at the start of a Gulf-wide clampdown on booze sales as governments look to pacify local fears, analysts said.
The GCC states may move to rein in sales and tighten alcohol legislation in a bid to walk the line between the expatriate population and their Muslim citizens in the wake of the Arab Spring unrest, said Guy Wilkinson, managing partner at Dubai hospitality consultancy, Viability.
“Qatar is hardly the first Gulf state in which the local population has expressed its concerns over the sale of alcohol,” he told Arabian Business. “Following the Arab Spring, I expect Muslim parties to have more and more influence over the control of alcohol throughout the region.”
The sale of alcohol is strictly monitored in five of the Gulf states with Saudi Arabia operating an outright ban on the sale and consumption of liquor.
The move to offer alcohol licenses to outlets and non-Muslims is largely a nod to the region’s expatriate workers, who vastly outnumber the local population. But the decision has been met with criticism from some citizens who oppose the sale of liquor in Muslim countries.
Qatar retains comparatively tight rules governing alcohol consumption, said Wilkinson.
“Just a few years back, one could only find it in just a few luxury hotels and clubs with strict entry procedures,” he said. “The fact that its population has increased so fast over the last few years has evidently not changed the concerns of Muslims over the potential ill effects of alcohol consumption, particularly in terms of moral behaviour.
Chiheb Ben Mahmoud, head of Hotel Advisory, for MENA at Jones Lang LaSalle, said the open sale of alcohol was always a “delicate balance” for Gulf governments.
“Sometimes, local public opinion is heated up on the back of a combination of factors. It is common for authorities in these cases to act swiftly in order to defuse tension and prevent the issue from heating up further and getting out of control,” he said.
The suspension of sales on the Pearl could be seen as “a wake-up call or a reminder of the invisible red lines not to be crossed.”
United Development Company (UDC), the developer of The Pearl-Qatar, issued a statement announcing the resignation of Khalil Sholy, its managing director and president, on Thusrday, Reuters reports.
A suspension that will eventually be lifted when sales are down at the restaurants, which all have Qatari investors who won't want to watch their profits dwindle.
@ OP...you are not in Doha and so out of the loop but still can call a shame for the ban. BTW how did you get thinking that Pearl banned alcohol.
And just two words "Pearl Alcohol" returned me the two latest threads on the issue and I think irrespective of whether you are in Doha or not if you can access QL you can run the search on it too... lazy people....:((
Yup...Alchohol was only 'suspended' from sales on the Pearl (not officially banned). Give them around 5 more months and it will return back to full Alchohol sales. This ban reminds me of a 1998 ban on women smoking 'Shisha' (Hookah Pipes). It was later lifted. Its kind of Qatars way to calm the religious left when they have an incident. I would of thought maybe a religious mans kid came back home drunk and filed a complaint or something? Just a guess.
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http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/179919-restaurants-in-pearl-may-serve-drinks-again.html
The United Development Corporation (UDC) is likely to revoke its decision to ban serving alcohol at The Pearl-Qatar restaurants.
UDC, the developer of the vast man-made island The Pearl-Qatar, said yesterday the decision to ban alcohol was not permanent and the property developer was looking into the complaints against the decision to declare Pearl-Qatar dry.
“The decision to ban alcohol was temporary. We are receiving complaints from the restaurants and other outlets. We might take a right decision after looking into all aspects of the issue”, UDC sources told The Peninsula yesterday.
When asked what provoked the UDC for a blanket ban on liquor sales in the high-end property, the top UDC official said: “ I am not authorised to comment on that. There are complaints that the decision has led to a significant drop in the daily business of shops. We are looking into it,” he said. The official also denied reports that the UDC’s president and managing director Khalil Sholy’s Thursday resignation was related to the decision on ‘liquor trade”.
are those restaurants running empty now and the staff fishing at the Marina?
As a point of interest, sales at the Pearl restaurants seem to have come down 50% since the ban http://www.qatarliving.com/node/2477674 and this over a holiday period where many expats would be out celebrating over dinner.
Flor has many OFF days, I think its the only days he has. His silly nonesense posts do make amusing reading though, all be it rather tiresome after a while.
haha Adey, I can only assume Flor is having an off day and usually would know better than to bother clicking on a thread title that he apparently has been bored to death with already! Thanks everybody else for the helpful info :D
flor has had somewhat of a personality change.
I think he is taking over QL
lol
has your account been hijacked flor?
answer my post? Precisely we want you to search and read the previous threads about this issue and you will know WHY?
Flor1212 if it's just "another newbie alchol-related question" why are you bothering to post, thank goodness for pros like you who know how to answer questions on forums correctly... oh no wait.. ;)
the OP doesn't understand the issue!
Let's wait for another "newbee" to open up a bottle, errr I mean another alcohol-related question! Lol!
sunday is a working day here :)
Here here to the people putting Doha Chap in his place... no one is getting 'outraged' as the person who started the question, my intent was just to ask a simple question, I don't understand why people are taking the time to write replies that are completely counter-productive of the thread topic. Find something better to do with your Sunday! Maybe a lovely alcohol free meal at the Pearl?;)
Calm down Prism, someone has their cranky pants on today:P pardon me for thinking it was ok for starting a new thread, and if it is causing you so much bother simply don't reply. Lots of lovely helpyful people have been able to make useful comments without sounding like a moody sod!
To be fair DC, I don't see anyone on this particular thread getting outraged.
But I agree with you. Whether it's a temporary or permanent suspension, life will just go back to how it was prior to 3 or 4 eateries selling some wine.
wait 'til they are sober, they won't understand you! Lol!
BTW, it's suspension, not suspicion! Lol! no offense, DC! Hehehehehh!
Oh My Dayz! When will you ppl stop ranting and raving and crying to heavens above for the suspicion of booze in Qatar?
This is totally ridiculous¬!!
Well just for the records, Alcohol sales has been suspended only at the Pearl....t¬hat's just one focking tiny area of the fockin city of Doha aight?.
Other outlets and hotels and still got it on their menu, besides if you just care to walk in to QDC I’m sure you can notice the availability of liquor at these stores.
I'm getting very pissed off about the situation here, in the sense that so many expats are just outraged that this one section of the city has had sales suspended!! So they run to Ql ‘to bit-ch about it, as tho if without alcohol, the world would crumbles tomorrow. !!!
PFFFF Give it a fockin rest.
If you need booze that bad, you have a problem.!
And if living in another culture is so difficult because you may not be able to drink, then you might want to consider just going home to your comfort zone.
It's just the price we've had to pay for getting pork at QDC perhaps?
End of the day, we still have QDC plus restaurants and bars in the hotels, as well as the Golf Club.
The only people suffering from this ban are the poor (no pun) fools who invested millions in fancy restaurants at The Pearl and who now are seeing their investment go down the drain.
Next step - no alcohol on Qatar Airways flights?
Interesting article Genesis, food for thought indeed.
qlrules-- I see you are new to QL, so welcome!
when it's already a compromise between the host and the visitors.
And surely, the noisy one will keep blah blah blah! It's just a choice between "more money less booze OR less money more booze"! Lol! In Saudi, it's "more money and illegal booze", and the expats survive there!
http://m.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-alcohol-ban-could-be-tip-of-iceberg-for-gcc-440454.html
Qatar’s move to ban the sale of alcohol on its flagship Pearl development may hint at the start of a Gulf-wide clampdown on booze sales as governments look to pacify local fears, analysts said.
The GCC states may move to rein in sales and tighten alcohol legislation in a bid to walk the line between the expatriate population and their Muslim citizens in the wake of the Arab Spring unrest, said Guy Wilkinson, managing partner at Dubai hospitality consultancy, Viability.
“Qatar is hardly the first Gulf state in which the local population has expressed its concerns over the sale of alcohol,” he told Arabian Business. “Following the Arab Spring, I expect Muslim parties to have more and more influence over the control of alcohol throughout the region.”
The sale of alcohol is strictly monitored in five of the Gulf states with Saudi Arabia operating an outright ban on the sale and consumption of liquor.
The move to offer alcohol licenses to outlets and non-Muslims is largely a nod to the region’s expatriate workers, who vastly outnumber the local population. But the decision has been met with criticism from some citizens who oppose the sale of liquor in Muslim countries.
Qatar retains comparatively tight rules governing alcohol consumption, said Wilkinson.
“Just a few years back, one could only find it in just a few luxury hotels and clubs with strict entry procedures,” he said. “The fact that its population has increased so fast over the last few years has evidently not changed the concerns of Muslims over the potential ill effects of alcohol consumption, particularly in terms of moral behaviour.
Chiheb Ben Mahmoud, head of Hotel Advisory, for MENA at Jones Lang LaSalle, said the open sale of alcohol was always a “delicate balance” for Gulf governments.
“Sometimes, local public opinion is heated up on the back of a combination of factors. It is common for authorities in these cases to act swiftly in order to defuse tension and prevent the issue from heating up further and getting out of control,” he said.
The suspension of sales on the Pearl could be seen as “a wake-up call or a reminder of the invisible red lines not to be crossed.”
United Development Company (UDC), the developer of The Pearl-Qatar, issued a statement announcing the resignation of Khalil Sholy, its managing director and president, on Thusrday, Reuters reports.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/12/idUSL6E8CC3BV20120112
did you even care to read those threads Bachus?
A suspension that will eventually be lifted when sales are down at the restaurants, which all have Qatari investors who won't want to watch their profits dwindle.
@ OP...you are not in Doha and so out of the loop but still can call a shame for the ban. BTW how did you get thinking that Pearl banned alcohol.
And just two words "Pearl Alcohol" returned me the two latest threads on the issue and I think irrespective of whether you are in Doha or not if you can access QL you can run the search on it too... lazy people....:((
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/2364470
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/2440403
I was in Dubai for a few weeks ?
any untoward incident , related to alchohol ?
Yup...Alchohol was only 'suspended' from sales on the Pearl (not officially banned). Give them around 5 more months and it will return back to full Alchohol sales. This ban reminds me of a 1998 ban on women smoking 'Shisha' (Hookah Pipes). It was later lifted. Its kind of Qatars way to calm the religious left when they have an incident. I would of thought maybe a religious mans kid came back home drunk and filed a complaint or something? Just a guess.
Damn! I was going to pop over for a Fettucini washed down with a bottle of Tenuta dell Ornellaia :0(
Flor1212 there is no need to be rude, I'm not in Doha at the moment so I am out the loop!
Tamer awaad thanks! How come they have stopped them? What a shame!
yes macavela you right since 1 mount ago the stop thim to sale alchol.
at the upper right. Click it, it's still hot! Lol!