Qatar’s tourism sector witnessed a surge in visitor numbers during the first half of 2024 with the AFC Asian Cup Qatar being a major driver of growth, according to Qatar Tourism data. The report revealed a 28 percent annual surge in visitor numbers to 2.6 million international visitors in H1 2024

A total of 2,639,000 international visitors arrived in Qatar, 51 percent of whom came by air, 40 percent by land, and 9 percent by sea.

Saudi Arabia remains leading source market

Saudi Arabia remained the leading source country, raising Qatar’s tourism performance during H1 of 2024. The Kingdom contributed around 29 percent of the total arrivals with 755,000 visitors. In second place came India with 8 percent of arrivals, Bahrain with 5 percent, the U.K., Kuwait, Oman and Germany with 4 percent each, the U.S. and UAE with 3 percent each, and Italy with 2 percent.

Of the total arrivals, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries made up 43 percent, a significant increase of over 151 percent compared to arrivals from the GCC pre-pandemic.

Notably, January recorded the highest monthly arrival ever at 703,000, while February witnessed 596,000 arrivals. March saw 329,000 arrivals while April recorded 382,000. Finally, May saw 313,000 arrivals and June saw 316,000.

Hospitality sector demand surges

Amid the surge in Qatar’s tourism sector, the room-night demand continued to register substantial increases during the first half, further raising occupancy rates. The room-night demand grew 28 percent in line with tourist arrivals, reaching 4.9 million room nights by H1 2024.

Qatar’s room-night demand hit a record high of 4.9 million in the first half, compared to 3.1 million in the first half of 2019, a 55 percent increase.

Read: Türkiye welcomes 26.1 million visitors in H1 2024, tourism revenues hit $23.7 billion

Tourism to add $25 billion to Qatar’s economy

Qatar’s travel and tourism sector is set to contribute QAR90.8 billion ($25 billion) to the country’s economy this year, making up 11.3 percent of the nation’s total output.

Moreover, the sector will likely generate over 334,500 jobs nationwide, 5.8 percent of the entire workforce, the World Travel & Tourism Council’s 2024 Economic Impact Research stated.

The travel and tourism sector’s contribution to the GDP surged by 31 percent in 2023, hitting a record QAR81.2 billion ($22.25 billion) or 10.3 percent of Qatar’s overall economic output.

Qatar aims to attract six million visitors annually and raise tourism’s contribution to the GDP to 12 percent by 2030.

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