DOHA: Tourist arrivals in Qatar for the first three quarters of the year crossed the two million mark, highlighted by a substantial increase in the number of visitors from the GCC which can be attributed to the week-long Eid in Qatar celebrations.
According to a report by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), Qatar has welcomed a total of 2,182,769 visitors for the first three quarters of this year. In September, the country received 255,805 visitors, most of whom are GCC nationals attracted by the Eid Al Adha celebrations which lasted for a week.
The Eid in Qatar celebrations is one of the highlights in the country’s tourism calendar which typically attracts many visitors from all over the Gulf region.
As expected, Saudi Arabia nationals constituted the biggest percentage of visitors arriving in Qatar with a total of 746,598 Saudi visitors from January to September, 106,014 of who came in September alone.
The growth in year-to-date (January-September) GCC visitor arrivals was dominated by visits by nationals of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which increased by eight percent and 17 percent, respectively compared to 2015.
Visits by Bahraini and Kuwaiti nationals were up by three percent and two percent, respectively; while visits by Omani nationals were down by five percent. Overall, year-to-date arrivals from the GCC grew by 7 percent compared to the same period in 2015.
Meanwhile, visitors arriving on Qatar-Oman tourist visa increased by two percent year-to-date compared to the same period in 2015. Visits by nationals of the Americas also increased by five percent compared to the same period in 2015.
As Qatar welcomes its first cruise ship on October 18, carrying tourists from 45 countries, QTA projects further modest increases in visitor arrivals during the current month. Thirty-two cruise ships carrying 50,000 passengers are expected during the cruise season which ends in April.
Further increase in tourist arrivals is anticipated in the future with travel facilitation schemes announced recently, including the easing of transit visa rules, new procedures to accelerate the entry of tourists arriving on cruise ships, and an agreement with VFS Global, which will pave the way for an online tourist visa processing system.
