Skift Take
Would you like to spend 48 hours in Doha? With Qatar Airways, you might just think so.
Josh Corder
Qatar is currently seeking to position itself as a major transit hub for the development of its tourism sector.
Doha’s largest airport, Hamad International Airport, connects to more than 170 destinations, making it the second-busiest in the region after Dubai International Airport, and the country’s main airline, Qatar Airways, is benefiting from a new stopover scheme.
The new package eliminates the need for separate bookings and allows travelers in the region to streamline their travel planning through a new and improved booking process that combines flight and hotel reservations into one itinerary.
The plan allows travellers to stay in Qatar for up to four nights with a subsidised hotel and activities package, and will be operated through Qatar Holidays, Qatar Airways’ holiday subsidiary.
Qatar’s tourism board issues transit visas to travelers for about $27 and offers specialized tours for those staying in the Arab country for more than six hours.
Many Middle Eastern airlines are offering similar stopover programs to support tourism. Dubai’s Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways are all offering perks for travelers, with Etihad offering free nights for travelers flying with the airline. Emirates also recently announced a new promotion offering up to two free nights in Dubai.
Qatar seeks to profit from aviation sector
Qatar’s tourism industry overall has not benefited as much from the World Cup as authorities had hoped.
This month, Qatar Airways Group reported the strongest financial performance in its 27-year history, announcing profits of 6.1 billion Qatari riyals ($1.7 billion) for the 2023/24 financial year. The airline’s total revenue was $22.2 billion, up $1.3 billion from the previous year.
The airline handled about 40 million passengers in the fiscal year, but Qatar’s own international tourism will be just one-tenth of that, or 4 million, by 2023.
By comparison, Dubai’s Emirates Airlines carried 51.9 million passengers last year, while Dubai also welcomed 17.15 million international tourists in the same period.
As Skift previously reported, Qatar relies heavily on events to sustain its tourism industry: The country rushed to open thousands of hotel rooms during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but is now struggling to fill them without similar large-scale events.
Without major events, especially sporting events, Qatar’s tourism sector is likely to shrink. The problem is even bigger considering that the country has built an additional 10,000 hotel rooms since the start of 2022, increasing the country’s supply by a third. Qatar’s hotel room count currently stands at just under 40,000.
Extending your stay in GCC
The new stopover programme also serves as a preparation for future packages from Gulf countries that will encourage travellers to visit multiple GCC countries on one holiday. Qatar Airways, for example, will promote stopover stays in the country while travelling to Dubai.
GCC visa unification was first mentioned at a meeting in Dubai in May 2023, where ministers shared their desire to unify the GCC to encourage tourists to consider cross-border travel like in Europe.
It was subsequently approved in October last year. Speaking at Dubai’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM), a government official said the “platform” is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Tourism organizations from around the world are coordinating packages to sell to tourists.
Speaking at ATM 2024, UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri said the visa would include a one-month “grand package”.
“The unified tourist visa will enable travellers to visit all six countries,” he said. Through the GCC Grand Tour, which we aim to complete, tourists will spend more than 30 days in the region.”
Another panelist added that the new visa would primarily encourage longer stays in the Gulf. Khalid Jassim Al Midfa, director general of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development, said: “One of the main objectives is to extend the length of stay. Leisure travel will allow people to travel up to four weeks. We want them to combine holidays in GCC countries.”
