QATAR TOURISM A
nyone living in Qatar will know the feeling: Go away on holiday or business for a week or two, or even a day or two, and you’ll come back to
see a new project, a new skyscraper or a whole new suburb being developed. Te breakneck speed of development is impressive and the QNV not only
lays out the blueprint for the future success of the Gulf nation, but underlines the need for sustainable tourism. Tourism companies are exempt from the local agency law – no local partner is needed - paving the way for international entities to set up in Qatar. Qatar Tourism Authority chairman, Ahmed A Nuaimi perhaps summed the situation up best during a recent travel event in Germany, ITB Berlin. He said Qatar’s tourism and promotion strategy played to the country’s
strengths. “Qatar has become one of the emerging destinations in world travel and
tourism thanks to Qatar Airways’ growth, as well as our strategy to highlight the range of activities on offer in Qatar. It has everything a high-end traveller needs – stunning hotels, cultural icons, many leisure activities and, for the business traveller, ease of access.” To keep encouraging tourist influx to the state, more and more
accommodation is needed. In addition to the construction of 12 new football stadiums for the FIFA World
Cup 2022, Qatar is building 77 new hotels and 42 hotel apartments ahead of the tournament. More than $100 billion worth of infrastructure is also due to be completed, including a new $11 billion Doha International Airport, the $6 billion Doha port project and an incredible $25 billion metro and railway system. According to industry analysts, Euromonitor International, inbound visitor numbers for the Gulf state are expected to reach 1.6 million by 2014, up from just under one million in 2009. Tat’s almost as many visitors as the size of the current population (around 1.8 million).
Hotel occupancy rates also rose in the third quarter of 2011, despite a surge of
new openings last year, reflecting increasing demand and interest in tourism in the Gulf state as Qatar prepares to host the 2022 World Cup. First quarter occupancy rates for 2012 reflected a similar upward trend, with most hotels showing full occupancy at weekends, as intra-Gulf travel increased. Tere were 77 hotels with around 10,000 rooms available in Qatar in August
2011, according to research by STR Hospitality Consultants. A further 2,100 rooms are expected to enter the Qatar market before the end of this year. Te football tournament is expected to generate enormous interest and
wealth for the country. Te Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee recently confirmed that the World Cup will contribute significantly to the country›s tourism coffers, with annual tourist arrivals into Qatar forecast to increase to a staggering 3.7 million by 2022. Qatar Tourism Authority reports that more than 6,000 hotel rooms, with 25
hotels and ten hotel apartment complexes, opened in 2011, with average room occupancy rates continuing their upward trend for the period July to September 2011, reaching 48 per cent - a 4 per cent increase on 2010. Just in April 2012, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels announced the opening of the chain’s four-star Kingsgate Hotel Doha in Al Ghanim old city. Te new property is the group’s first Kingsgate hotel in Qatar and second in the Middle East. Kempinski Hotels announced impressive results for the first quarter from
its expanding portfolio of hotels and managed residences in the Middle East. During the first quarter of 2012, properties in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain exceeded forecasted occupancy levels, especially on weekends, reflecting the growth of intra-regional travel. Crowne Plaza Doha, managed by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), is
APRIL 2012 I CITYSCAPE I 51
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