The State of Qatar has achieved a qualitative leap and an unprecedented expansion in the number of hotel rooms, as data issued by Qatar Tourism revealed that the country has a total of 39,635 hotel rooms and apartments with the opening of new hotels, including the Rixos Hotel on Qetaifan Island, the Millennium Place Hotel, and the Riviera Rayhaan, Expectations indicate that this number will reach about 40,000 rooms by the end of this year.
The real estate consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield stated in its report on the real estate market in Qatar that there are a number of hospitality sector projects distributed between 4- and 5-star hotels and resorts that are currently being built in Qatar and are in various stages of construction that will be opened during the current year and next year. It will add a number of rooms to the Qatari hospitality sector.
The report indicated that over the past months, the total supply of hotel rooms in Qatar has exceeded 39,000 rooms, and it is expected to exceed 40,000 rooms by the end of 2024. 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 40% of the total hotels in Qatar, while four-star hotels account for a share of 27% of the total, and hotel apartments account for 27%, while hotels in categories between 1 and 3 stars account for a share of 6% of the total. Total.
The supply of hotel apartments exceeded 9,000 units, more than 70% of which are located in the West Bay area, and the supply is still dominated by high-end hotels and luxury apartments.
According to the STR Global classification, more than 31,000 rooms are classified as upscale or luxury, which is largely equivalent to four-star and five-star hotels.
While the increase in hotel supply has led to fears of oversupply, Qatar’s hotel real estate sector has received a boost in recent months with a significant rise in the number of visitors.
Hotels of various categories, ranging from five stars to two stars and one star, witnessed an increase in occupancy rates and revenues per available room.
The occupancy rate of three-star hotels reached 76 percent in April 2024, an increase of 19 percent compared to April 2023, while the occupancy rate of four-star hotels reached 61 percent, an increase of 41 percent compared to the same month last year. In the case of five-star hotels, hotel occupancy rates reached 58% during the same period, an increase of 39% compared to April 2023.
a decent position
The State of Qatar succeeded in maintaining its prestigious position among the best tourist destinations for travelers from the Middle East and North Africa region during the first four months of 2024, as the good and thoughtful preparation of various types of entertainment events, which the country holds throughout the year, contributed to attracting more tourists. This also led to enhancing the competitiveness of the Qatari tourism sector, which has become a clear and distinctive presence.
According to the report, issued by Wego, the largest online travel market and the most popular travel application for searching for flights in the Middle East and North Africa, the State of Qatar ranked eighth among the best tourist destinations in 2024, and Qatar entered the top ten for the first time in 2022. When it hosted the World Cup, it succeeded in taking advantage of the event to raise its position in the 2023 and 2024 rankings.
The ranking is based on an analysis of flight data and hotel occupancy rates for users who book tens of millions of trips.
A safe and preferred destination
By the end of last April, the number of visitors to the State of Qatar exceeded more than 2 million visitors, an increase of 35.1% compared to the same period in 2023, which confirms that Doha has become a safe and preferred tourist destination at the regional and global levels, especially with it hosting many entertainment events and hosting a wonderful group of cultural events. , sports tournaments, intellectual conferences, and others in 2024, led by the eighteenth edition of the 2023 Asian Cup, in addition to Expo 2023 Doha, the first international horticultural exhibition held in the region, the Qatar Shopping Festival 2024, and the Doha Jewelery and Watches Exhibition, in addition to the Web Summit. WSQ is the largest technology conference in the world, held for the first time in the Middle East and Africa region, with more than 80 events included in Qatar’s events calendar, continuing throughout the year in conjunction with Qatar’s rapid growth as a leading tourist destination.
Gulf visitors
The large turnout from citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries contributed to the recovery of the tourism and travel sector in the State of Qatar over the past four months, with more than 872 thousand visitors, representing 44% of the total number of visitors in the period from January to April 2024.
According to Qatar Tourism statistics at the end of April, Saudi Arabia is still the largest contributor to the number of international visitors to Qatar, with more than 562,000 visitors arriving, representing 28% of the total visitors arriving to the country, while Bahrain ranked second in the Gulf with 95,000 visitors ( 5%), while the Sultanate of Oman came in third place with 79,000 visitors (4%), Kuwait with 76,000 visitors (4%), and the UAE with 60,000 visitors (3%).
Top markets
Regarding international visitors, the highest markets for visitors after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were India, 150,000 visitors (7%), Germany, 88,000 visitors (4%), the United Kingdom, 71,000 visitors (4%), and Italy, 44,000 visitors (2%). 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 huge numbers of visitors, especially citizens of the Gulf countries, confirm Qatar’s leadership in tourism, as it has imposed itself on the international tourism map.
Noticeable expansion
The State of Qatar witnessed a noticeable expansion in the tourism scene during the year 2023, receiving more than 4 million visitors, exceeding the number of visitors for the year 2022, thus recording the highest level in the last five years.
Qatar Tourism aims to raise the tourism sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product from 7% to 12% by 2030, with tourist numbers estimated at 6 million visitors.
Promoting the sector
Qatar’s tourism vision in promoting 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, and an international airport that won the “Best Airport in the World” award this year for the third time in 5 years and the best in the world. Middle East for seven consecutive years, and a national carrier flying in the skies of more than 170 destinations around the world, in addition to hosting 128 modern meeting and conference facilities.
Cruises
The cruise sector also showed great flexibility and remarkable growth, as Qatar witnessed a steady increase in the total number of cruise ships it received and the number of visitors on board during the current season 2023/2024, which witnessed a noticeable increase by receiving 73 cruise ships and more than 378 thousand visitors, recording an increase. It reached 38 percent, compared to the previous season 2022-2023, in addition to the expectations of those in charge of the tourism sector to attract 500,000 visitors on board cruise ships by 2026.