Qatar’s tourism sees positive growth

Qatar Tourism Authority recently announced its tourism performance which showed a strong upward trajectory. The data released in QTA’s second quarter (April – June) 2013 report, compared performance to the same quarter 2012. Hotel occupancy rate rose from an average of 58% to 67%, despite there being a 4.5% increase in the number of rooms available. The total number of hotels under construction increased to 121propertiesin the second quarter 2013 from 110 at the end of 2012; with a total 20,955 rooms to expected to be delivered. HE Issa Mohammed Al-Mohannadi said: “We are seeing strong growth in all aspects of Qatar’s tourism sector. Qatar Tourism Authority is proud of these developments and the strides being made towards a record year of tourism in Qatar. As tourism becomes increasingly important to diversifying the national economy we look positively on these developments.” Visitors increased from most corners of the globe, with particularly good performance coming from within the GCC countries. Overall, GCC tourists were up by 15%, with Saudi Arabia the largest single source of visitors with 144,491 travellers. Overall visitors from other continents rose by 6.6%, with particularly impressive growth of 12% in visitors from Asia. The leisure tourism sector saw a 10% increase from international markets, aided bya diverse range of events and activities in Qatar during the second quarter of 2013. This includes the first-ever Middle East performance of Disney on Ice, as well as the sold-out performances of the Broadway hit show STOMP at Qatar National Convention Centre. Source: Travel Daily