As the State of Qatar looks to diversify its economy and increase the contribution of non-oil and gas sectors to the GDP, travel and tourism industry has emerged as one of the key sectors to drive future economic growth and provide employment.
Since the successful hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the state has seen a gradual increase in the number of visitors to the country, helped by a long list of tourist attractions Qatar offers and global connectivity through the national carrier Qatar Airways and its aviation hub, the Hamad International Airport.
2023 saw Qatar welcome more than four million visitors, the highest ever. A total of 2.56 million people visited Qatar in 2022, while the pre-Covid figure of 2019 stood at more than 2.1 million. In first six month of the current year, more than 2.6 million people have visited the country, a 28.4 percent increase from the same period last year, according to statistics published by Qatar Tourism. According to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Qatar has implemented a $220bn investment programme over the past decade, mainly focused on infrastructure, and its business environment has benefited from the expansion of Hamad International Airport, the road network and tourism infrastructure, among others.
An economist has projected that the visitor numbers will continue to increase this year as well as 2025. Talking to this newspaper, Scott Livermore, ICAEW Economic Advisor and Chief Economist and Managing Director at Oxford Economics, projected total arrivals for full year 2024 to be 4.5 million and rise to 4.9 million next year. The growth of the tourism industry mirrors the pivotal role that it plays within the Qatar National Vision 2030 economic framework which aims to broaden and enhance the economy through diversification and development efforts.
Last year, travel and tourism’s GDP contribution grew by 31 percent to reach a record-breaking QR81.2bn, representing 10.3 percent of Qatar’s total economic output, and demonstrating the sector’s importance to the national economy.
The sector also proved to be a vital source of employment, creating more than 20,300 new jobs, and raising the total to nearly 286,000 nationwide, representing one in every eight jobs across the country. Domestic visitor spend was also stronger than ever to reach QR1.4bn. Spending by international travellers is expected to increase significantly this year, with forecasts indicating a record spend of QR69.6bn this year, while domestic spend is projected to reach QR12bn.
The government has continuously worked to further enhance and develop the tourism sector and also attract the private sector and foreign investment to this vital industry.
