(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar's tourism sector continues to witness a strong recovery with more than 729,000 international visitors choosing Qatar as a destination in the first half of 2022, marking a 19% increase compared to the full year of 2021.
Qatar witnessed robust international visitation in June 2022, with 149,000 visitors, marking the highest visitation in the summer month in the last 5 years. 34% of the total visitors entered by land (51,000), 6% by sea (10,000), and 59% by air (88,000) via Qatar's Hamad International Airport.
Regional markets delivered impressive tourism volumes, as the most significant inbound markets to Qatar in June are KSA (26%), India (10%), USA (5%), Oman (5%), UK (4%), UAE (4%) and Kuwait (4%).
The month of June also marked the end of Qatar's winter cruise season, which ran from December 2021 to June 2022. During the season, Qatar welcomed 101,000 cruise ship visitors, with 34 cruise ship calls. This is approximately 12% of the total arrivals during the same period of last year.
Qatar's hospitality also sector saw a positive return with 3.1 million room-nights sold by June 2022 vs. the 3.2 million room nights sold by June 2019 (pre-pandemic levels), as room supply increases steadily to 30,000 keys by June 2022. The total hotel sector revenue is also up by 17% in June 2022 vs. June 2021, split across Room (51%), F&B (39%) and others (10%). Despite the normally slower demand during summer months, 542,000 room nights were sold in June 2022.
Commenting on the spike of tourism figures this year, Chief Operating Officer of Qatar Tourism, Berthold Trenkel, said: 'Over the first half of the year, we witnessed a 19% increase in the number of international arrivals compared to full year 2021 and are expecting an even stronger second half, as this is a legacy year for Qatar as the host of the first-ever FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament in the Arab world and the Middle East. To accommodate this growth, we are expecting 50 hotels to open by the end of the year, as well as the launch of several world-class tourism attractions, such as kite beach resorts and Lusail Winter Wonderland.”
He added: 'It is evident that Qatar is one of the fastest-growing destinations in the world and what we have witnessed during the past ten years in terms of infrastructure development - with new hospitality, retail, cultural and educational facilities - is a clear indicator of what we can achieve. Attracting more visitors and achieving our goals will lead to more investment in Qatar's tourism sector.”
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