File photo. Representational.
Doha, Qatar: As the world marks World Tourism Day 2026 under the theme “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” Qatar is already putting that ambition into practice, using AI and connected technology to reshape the visitor journey around the evolving needs and expectations of today’s traveller.
For visitors, technology can now support almost every stage of a trip. Before travelling, they can use Visit Qatar’s AI Trip Concierge to build a personalised itinerary and access up-to-date destination information, while Hayya enables eligible travellers to manage visa requirements digitally.
On arrival at Hamad International Airport, passengers can use digital services including “Fast Pass”, a facial recognition service that enables passengers to move through the airport using biometric verification, in addition to location-enabled navigation and digital information points to navigate the terminal. Once in the country, visitors can move around Doha through its modern transport network, use AI-powered Trip Concierge to identify landmarks and learn more about their surroundings, and discover hundreds of events and experiences through Visit Qatar’s digital platforms. Together, these touchpoints connect the journey from inspiration and planning to arrival, exploration and experience.
This reflects Qatar’s early move into AI-enabled tourism. Visit Qatar was among the first tourism entities in the region to introduce generative AI into its official visitor platforms in 2024, with its digital offering continuing to evolve in response to changing traveller behaviour and growing expectations for greater personalisation, immediacy and convenience.
At the heart of this is Visit Qatar’s GenAI Trip Concierge, which combines text, voice, interactive maps, trip planning and a virtual human within a single experience. Available for chat in more than 50 languages, it can create personalised itineraries, remember visitor preferences and allow travellers to adapt their plans conversationally, drawing on Visit Qatar’s latest destination content, events, offers and practical travel information.
Visit Qatar has extended AI beyond traditional search through Qatar Lens, responding to the increasingly visual way travellers discover destinations. Visitors can upload an image of a landmark or location in Qatar and receive its name, cultural or historical context, opening hours and practical information – turning their surroundings into another way to discover the country.
Technology is also simplifying access to Qatar. Hayya provides a digital gateway for travel and visa facilitation, allowing international visitors who require visas to complete the process online, while vehicle pre-registration through Hayya helps streamline entry through the Abu Samra land border.
Once in Qatar, digital innovation makes it easier to discover what to experience next. Qatar Calendar, which annually features more than 500 events, provides a central point for exploring the country’s year-round programme.
The newly launched Visit Qatar Widget for iPhone and Android users, takes this a step further by bringing continuously updated Qatar Calendar content directly to users’ mobile screens, giving residents and visitors an immediate view of what is happening across the country.
The next step will bring discovery and access closer together. Visit Qatar’s upcoming unified digital ticketing platform, scheduled to launch by the end of 2026, will provide a centralised platform for discovering and booking events and tourism experiences across Qatar.
These developments demonstrate how technology is being embedded across Qatar’s tourism ecosystem to respond to how people increasingly plan, access and experience destinations. This progress supports the ambitions of Qatar National Vision 2030, advancing tourism as a key driver of economic diversification while harnessing digital innovation to build a more competitive and future-ready sector.
As World Tourism Day puts the global spotlight on the future of travel, Qatar offers a clear example of how that future is taking shape. Technology is becoming an integral part of a wider destination experience that brings together a diverse year-round tourism offering, world-class infrastructure, global connectivity and a welcoming environment where visitors can explore with ease.
With Qatar Airways connecting Doha to more than 160 destinations worldwide and a modern transport network making it easy to discover the country, Qatar brings together the accessibility, experiences and digital capabilities that today’s travellers increasingly expect from a global destination.
