Qatar’s tourism sector flourished during the period in between 2009-18, as the number of hotels and tourists increased substantially, while hotel rooms and number of hotel guests doubled during the 10-year period.
According to Qatar Social Statistics 2009 – 2018 report released yesterday by the Planning and Statistical Authority, the number of hotels increased from 58 in 2009 to 110 in 2018.
“Due to the state’s interest in tourism and the increase in the number of tourists, the number of hotels increased. Over the past three years, the number of “premium” hotels increased by 40 percent and “first- class” hotels increased by 27 percent,” said the report.
The data on the number of hotel rooms in Qatar indicated a rise from 9,310 rooms in 2009 to 24,091 in 2018, in addition to an increase in the number of beds in rooms to 35,000. “Around 88 percent of them are in the category of “premium and first class” hotels, and this is due to the increase in the construction of hotels of various classes,” noted the report.
The number of hotel guests in 2018 reached 6.4 million. The largest percentage of them was for guests of first-class and premium hotels. As for nationality, people from Gulf were more inclined towards premium hotels. The majority of guests of “first and second class” hotels were Asians, according to the report.
“The tourism sector in the State of Qatar witnessed a remarkable development during the period (2009 - 2018). This trend is reflected in the noticeable increase in the number of tourist nights during the period up to 5.4 million tourist nights in 2018,” said the report.
“The increase in the number of tourists correlated to the hotel class. The higher the hotel’s class, the more nights it has. The number of tourist nights in “premium (*****)” (five-star) hotels reached 2.4 million in 2018,” noted the report.
Museum played a crucial role in booting tourism sector by attracting hundreds of tourists from across the world. Qatar seeks to develop, promote and support museums, arts and heritage according to the highest international standards. The number of museums increased from three museums in 2009 to five museums in 2018, as many museums were established, including the Museum of Islamic Art, Zubarah Fort Museum, Msheireb Museums and the Museum of Arab Art and others. The number of museums visitors totalled 597,000 visitors in 2018.
The Islamic Museum opened in 2008, to receive visitors in 2009. This museum attracts almost 79 percent of visitors of museums in Qatar. In 2018, total number of visitors reached 504,000.
