Qatar’s 2023/24 cruise season has opened with the arrival of ‘Crystal Symphony’ ship followed by luxury ship Mein Schiff 2. This season will be the biggest, brining in approximately 350,000 passengers aboard 81 ships. It runs until April 2024. Since the opening of Grand Cruise Terminal, the Old Doha Port has been transformed into a top tourist attraction, drawing in thousands of local and foreign visitors every day. The terminal and its adjacent vast public parks, promenades, and an entire district comprising dozens of dining and shopping outlets is a destination in itself.
Cruise ships such as Norwegian Dawn and Le Bougainville will be making their debut in Qatar this season, with both ships operating as full homeporting vessels embarking from Doha. Norwegian Dawn has a passenger capacity of 2,340, while Le Bougainville can accommodate around 264 passengers. According to Qatar Tourism Chairman Saad bin Ali Al Kharji, cruise tourism is an important pillar through which Qatar will fulfil its national tourism strategy to become one of the world’s leading destinations.
Qatar has seen a steady increase in cruise ship arrivals and passenger numbers over the years. The 2022/23 cruise season concluded with a 151% increase in visitors compared to the previous season, with 54 cruise visits and 253,191 cruise visitors.
The country has established world-class infrastructure in the cruise ship sector while also contributing to the necessary infrastructure to handle the large influx of cruise ship passengers.
With a long list of tourist attractions developed in recent years, Qatar is aiming to draw in six million visitors a year by 2030. The country welcomed more than 2.8 million visitors in first nine months of the year, an increase of 142.8% year-on-year. Visitors arrivals to Qatar usually surge during the winter months. The recently-concluded Geneva International Motor Show Qatar and Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix 2023 also attracted thousands of tourists.
Doha Expo 2023, the first A1 International Horticultural Exhibition in the Middle East and North Africa region, continues at Al Bidda Park until March 28, 2024. Themed ‘Green Desert, Better Environment’, the Expo embodies the principles of Qatar National Vision 2030, which places environmental protection and sustainable development at the heart of Qatar’s development strategies.
Some key event on Qatar’s tourism calendar taking place in coming months include Ajyal Film Festival, Katara Traditional Dhow Festival, AFC Asian Cup 2023, AFC U23 Asian Cup 2024, Global Wellness Summit, Hospitality Qatar 2023, as well as Qatar National Day and Qatar Sport Day.
