Hotels gear up to welcome more tourists; 1.05m visit Qatar until April
Amid stiff competition with the opening of several new hotels across the city, the hospitality industry is expecting a surge in business after the summer holidays with an expected rise in the number of guests and business tourists, The Peninsula reported.
Hotels are expecting more than 75% occupancy rate from October, after it fell to 50-60% since April. Visitors from other GCC states dominate tourist inflow in Qatar.
Although business is expected to increase from September-end, December, January, February and March are usually the busy months for hotels in terms of occupancy due to pleasant weather, say industry sources.
Most cultural and business events take place during these months, attracting more visitors to the country.
The April-September season is considered lean as hotels receive lesser number of guests. However, better occupancy rates during the Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha holidays help them offset their losses to some extent.
“Hotels in the city have a better occupancy rate during winter. New attractions and entertainment events attract tourists to the country during this season. We receive more guests from other GCC states,” a senior official of the Gulf Paradise Hotel told The Peninsula.
“Even during summer, Qatar Tourism Authority has taken steps to promote tourism and help hotels increase their occupancy rate,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics, four-star hotels had 72% occupancy and three-star hotels 62% last December.
The occupancy rate of five-star hotels was 64% and one- and two-star hotels saw an occupancy rate of 69% during the period.
The occupancy rate was between 55% and 65% in June and July last year.
A total of 1.28m visitors came to Qatar during the first five months of this year — a rise of 21% compared to the first four months in 2015.
Around 1.05m people visited Qatar between January and April this year. They included 598,702 visitors from other GCC states, over 294,980 from other Asian countries, including Oceania region, and 199,170 from Europe.
Courtesy: thepeninsulaqatar.com
Photo courtesy: Abdulla Almesleh/QL Flickr Group
We are on the right track ............
This is just the tip of ice burg.
Qatar needs to add up more tourists attractions in order to multiple these numbers.
Free desert safari is an attraction, that the hotels can pay for.
Vintage and old cars museum, if put up, can become an additional spot to Doha's attraction.
Smaller islands of Doha also can add value, if water slidings are added up.
Scuba diving is yet another area, that the tourists like to engage in.
Such good news for all