Qatar has witnessed a significant rise in the number of tourists and visitors this year. A number of initiatives by Qatar Tourism have led to the rise in the visitors to the country ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. In addition, the first World Cup in the Middle East and the Arab world is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of football fans from around the world. High number of arrivals has also boosted the local travel and tourism industry, with business activity rising back to almost pre-pandemic levels.
As reported by the Planning and Statistics Authority, 145,641 people visited Qatar in June this year compared to just 24,293 visitors in the same period last year. As with the trend over the past year, visitors from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries constitute the largest portion of arrivals into the country. In June, there were 59,620 visitors from the GCC countries, constituting 41% of all visitors that month.
Qatar Airways, currently flying to over 150 destinations, and the Hamad International Airport, a major transit hub, have greatly aided efforts to promote Qatar as a tourist destination. Discover Qatar, destination management company of Qatar Airways Group, is also expanding the Stopover programme, to attract more tourists from all over the world in the coming months.
In June, 10,134 visitors came from other Arab countries other than GCC; 2,399 from African countries; 33,790 from Asia and Oceania; 24,502 from Europe; and 15,196 from Americas. Visitor arrivals measure non-residents travelling to Qatar on a short-term basis for all purposes. It includes arrivals at borders under 15 visa classes, including all businesses and leisure visa types excluding work visas.
The country has been the centre of attraction as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is set to take place in less than four months from now. Qatar offers visa-free entry to nationals from more than 90 countries, offering them a seamless visit to experience all that Doha has to offer.
Since the opening of Abu Samra border crossing and easing of COVID-19 restrictions, there has been a steady increase in visitors from the GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia, to Qatar through the land border crossing. For the first time ever, more visitors came into Qatar by land than by air in May 2022.
A slew of new hotels and properties have opened recently and more are scheduled to open ahead of the World Cup.
