Economy of Qatar - Tourism

Tourism

Qatar is focusing on niche tourism, especially the business segment, as a means of growth for the sector. Under the ambitious five-year development plan of the Qatar Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (QTEA), the government aims to boost the number of visitors from 964,000 as of 2007 to 1.5m by 2010. The funding needed to meet this goal is certainly there – in 2008 the state allocated some $17bn for tourism development through 2014, most of which is going towards hotels, exhibition space and infrastructure. In order to keep up with a rising number of visitors, the government hopes to increase hotel capacity 400% by 2012. In addition to financial support, the government has also worked to ease business regulations in a bid to increase private sector activity. A major aspect of expansion plans is the New Doha International Airport (NDIA), which will have the capacity to handle up to 24m passengers upon the completion of the first phase in 2012. Considering the vast majority of these visitors are members of the business community, the government has naturally targeted the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions segment as a viable source of development, with two new convention centres slated to open in 2011. Other niche tourism segments receiving special focus include cultural tourism on the back of the recent headline-grabbing opening of Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art, and sports tourism, initially spurred by the Asian Games, to which Qatar played host in 2006. The government appears to be committed to long-term expansion plans, but challenges nevertheless remain, including effective marketing to the international community as well as the effect of the financial crisis on global tourism appetite.