Qatar’s tourism sector witnesses strong growth in terms of tourist arrivals

Qatar 

Qatar has attracted visitors from across the region with travellers from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries making up 53 percent of the total arrivals.

Visitors from GCC countries contributed significantly to the strong growth in tourist arrivals in January 2024, according to the official data by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).

Qatar is working towards achieving its goal of receiving six million tourists by 2030 under a national strategy that seeks to increase the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product from 7 percent to 12 percent.

The country welcomed 370,051 visitors from the GCC in January 2024, against 141,998 in the same month in 2023, recording a jump of 160.6 percent annually.

In December 2023 the number of visitors from the GCC stood at 171,035 witnessing a rise of 116.4 percent on monthly basis.

Travellers from Gulf region constituted 53 percent in total arrivals.

While other Arab countries represented 7 percent as 51,583 visitors came to Qatar from this region in January this year compared to 9,446 in January last year, registering a rise of 446.1 percent on annual basis.

Visitor arrivals measure non-residents travelling to Qatar on a short-term basis for all purposes.

It includes arrivals at borders under different 15 visa classes, including all businesses and leisure visa types excluding work visas.

Of the total arrivals, 289,633 visitors came to Qatar by flights in January 2024 against 150,100 visitors in January last year, registering a rise of 93 percent year-on-year.

The visitors who came via sea totaled to 85,666 while 327,509 entered the country through land border.

According to the report, from the total visitors, 15 percent belonged to Asian countries.

The data revealed that 103,713 visitors came from Asia (including Oceania) in January 2024, compared to 57,950 in the same month in 2023, a rise of 79 percent on annual basis.

Visitors from other African countries stood at 8,962 in January 2024.

While the European visitors accounted for 20 percent of the total and they stood at 137,202 in January this year compared to 100,459 in same period in 2023.

Visitors from the Americas were 31,297 in January this year, compared to 24,540 in same period in 2023, representing 27.5 percent.

Qatar received 702,800 visitors in January alone with the hosting of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 which has attracted fans from all over the world.

The extension of the Hayya Card, initially introduced as a fan visa during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, benefitted tourists visiting Qatar for the Asian Cup.

The large number of tourists comes after Qatar wrapped up a successful year in 2023 by welcoming more than four million visitors, marking the highest figure in five years.

The launch of the third National Development Strategy 2024-2030, the final stage in achieving the objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030, places great emphasis on tourism.

Qatar Tourism launched a full year calendar for 2024, showcasing more than 80 unique events for the year.

From works of art to the world’s largest technology conference brought to the region for the very first time, Qatar is set to see an exquisite line up of cultural events, sporting championships, thought-provoking summits, e-mobility panels, and much more in 2024.