The number of visitors to the State of Qatar reached more than two million and 338 thousand visitors by the end of the first eight months of this year, which reflects the good performance of the tourism sector – despite the current regional conditions and geopolitical repercussions – thanks to the various attractions that Qatar abounds throughout the year, such as landmarks, leading tourist destinations, events and festivals that are organized, as well as the authentic Arab hospitality for which it is famous.
Statistics issued by Qatar Tourism on its official website showed that the total number of visitors reached 2 million and 338 thousand visitors from the beginning of the year, while last August the number of visitors reached 303 thousand, an increase of 6% compared to the previous July.
During the first eight months of 2026, the number of visitors arriving to Qatar by air reached 1,336,000 people, representing 57%, while 881,000 visitors arrived by land, representing 43% of the total number of visitors.
Gulf visitors are in the lead
According to Qatar Tourism statistics at the end of August, the GCC countries are still the largest contributor to the number of international visitors to Qatar this year, with more than 958,000 visitors arriving from them, representing 41% of the total visitors arriving to the country. In second place were visitors from Asian countries, with about 489,000 visitors, or 20.9%, while the number of European visitors reached 468,000, or 20.8%. Visitors from the Americas came in second place, with 169,000 visitors, or 20.8%. 7.2%, visitors from Arab countries reached 162 thousand, or 6.9%, and visitors from African countries ranked seventh with about 73,000 visitors, or 3.1% of the total number of visitors.
Hotel nights
On the other hand, the total nights of hotel stay during the first eight months of the year 2026 reached more than 5.3 million nights, while the average hotel occupancy rate recorded about 59.61%.
The average room price in all hotels and hotel apartments reached 407.3 riyals, compared to 447 riyals recorded in the year 2025, and the average return on available room reached 250.7 riyals since the beginning of the year.
Over the past months, the total supply of hotel rooms in Qatar has exceeded 42,000 rooms, and it is expected to exceed 43,000 rooms by the end of 2026. This recent increase in supply will be complemented by some important additions to the market in the coming months.
Five-star hotels account for a share of 48% of the total hotels in Qatar, while four-star hotels account for a share of 19% of the total, and hotel apartments account for 23%, while hotels in the categories between 1 and 3 stars account for a share of 5.4% of the total.
Haya platform
The “Haya” platform, managed by Qatar Tourism, continued to enhance its digital capabilities to provide a smoother and safer travel experience for visitors. These efforts have resulted in the development of a comprehensive system for processing electronic entry features by unifying the processes of identity verification, approvals, payment, reports, notifications, and entry permits within a unified digital workflow. The technical innovation in the platform is evident through its reliance on the latest advanced technologies, including Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to extract data from documents, passport analysis technologies, and automated verification technology for image conformity to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, which contributed to raising operational efficiency, reducing manual intervention, and increasing the accuracy of data processing.
The platform achieved exceptional operational results, processing nearly 850,000 requests during 2025, with an average of one electronic entry visa being processed every 35 seconds. The platform also succeeded in reducing data modification and request correction rates to only 5% in the same period.
Promotional campaigns
Visitor flows during the current year are due to the campaigns launched by Visit Qatar, which were promoted in the main markets, in addition to the calendar of permanent and world-class events that have been organized throughout the country since the beginning of the year, through which it has maintained its position as a preferred tourist destination for different nationalities. The distinguished numbers of Gulf visitors reflect the distinguished and advanced tourism infrastructure that Qatar enjoys, as well as tourist facilities such as hotels, restaurants, parks and beaches. The large numbers of visitors, especially from citizens of the Gulf countries, confirm On Qatar’s leadership in tourism, which has imposed itself on the international tourism map.
Promoting the sector
Qatar Tourism aims to work on developing this vital sector, which constitutes a fundamental pillar in diversifying the national economy and enhancing Qatar’s position on the international tourism map, and achieving the desired goals, including reaching 6 million visitors by 2030, and raising the tourism sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product from 7% to 12%.
Qatar’s tourism vision in advancing the sector is supported by the country’s enjoyment of many privileges such as traditional markets, unique museums, an advanced public transportation network, luxury hotels, resorts and shopping centres, an international airport that has won the “Best Airport in the World” award three times and the best in the Middle East in recent years, and a national carrier flying in the skies of more than 160 destinations around the world, in addition to hosting 128 modern meeting and conference facilities.