Qatar has Ambitious Tourism Targets for 2030

By the year 2030, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) expects tourism to contribute eight per cent to the country’s gross domestic product by 2030 with the implementation of the Qatar Tourism Sector Strategy 2030.

“The target is eight per cent, which will be the international average contribution to GDP by 2030,” QTA Chairman Issa Mohammed Al Mohannadi told a press conference Tuesday ahead of the official launch of the strategy by year-end.

The tourism sector is also projected to create about 127,000 jobs by 2030, which represents 5.3 per cent of the total employment in the country by 2030 — a huge leap from 19,900 jobs in 2012 which was only 1.8 percent of the total employment.

Revealing the latest figures of tourist arrivals, Al Mohannadi said Qatar saw a 15 per cent rise in the number of inbound tourists in the third quarter this year, with a 17 per cent increase in the number of tourists from the GCC and seven per cent growth in tourist arrivals from other countries.

The Eid Al Adha holidays witnessed 90 per cent hotel occupancy rate, he added.

He stressed that the Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition (MICE) sector as a major contributor to the growth Qatar tourism is witnessing.

“Business tourism is far more lucrative than leisure tourism,” he said, adding non-Arab tourists tend to come to the country primarily for business tourism.