Qatar’s tourism sector has emerged as one of the country’s most dynamic drivers of non-hydrocarbons-based growth, building steadily on the visibility and global exposure generated by the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In 2024 visitor numbers rose by 25% to reach 5.1m, underlining the sector’s post-tournament draw and growing international appeal. Led by Qatar Tourism, the government continues to prioritise the sector as a key contributor to economic diversification, in alignment with Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030 and the Third National Development Strategy 2024-30 (NDS-3). Both of these strategy blueprints set a target of 6m-7m annual visitors and a 10-12% GDP contribution from tourism by 2030.
Progress in the sector has been underpinned by steady infrastructure expansion, enhanced transport links and a growing hospitality offering with over 40,000 hotel rooms available as of May 2025. Visit Qatar, the promotional arm of Qatar Tourism, assumed a broader mandate in 2024 and has launched new campaigns such as Surprise Yourself and Qatar Stopover, aimed at boosting the country’s appeal by driving more family leisure offerings and transit visitor traffic. Cultural institutions are increasingly a mainstay of Qatar’s tourism sector, while the country’s ever-growing sports and cultural events calendar is helping to attract visitor numbers from across the region and beyond.
Structure & Oversight
Qatar Tourism is the government agency charged with overseeing the development, regulation and promotion of the country’s tourism sector. It is tasked with aligning national tourism efforts with the overarching goals of QNV 2030, while also driving privatisation, attracting international investment and positioning the country as a global travel destination. The organisation operates 15 overseas offices in strategic markets – including China, the UK and the US – to support outreach, source market diversification and visitor growth.
Since October 2023, Qatar Tourism has been chaired by Saad Ali Al Kharji. In August 2024 the agency announced that Visit Qatar – its marketing arm established in 2021 – would assume an expanded mandate as the primary promotional body for international tourism. Under the leadership of CEO Abdulaziz Al Mawlawi, Visit Qatar is responsible for boosting international arrivals by promoting a broadening array of experiences across the cultural, sports and entertainment subsectors.
The Ministry of Culture plays an important role in promoting local cultural events at home while also flying the flag for the country’s cultural initiatives around the world. Under the leadership of Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, this is also the body responsible for overseeing all major sports events in the country and for promoting sport among the local population through initiatives such as Qatar National Sports Day, organised in February each year.
Qatar Museums oversees the country’s expanding offering of cultural institutions, with a mandate to promote, restore and grow the presence of art and heritage from across the MENA region. Its network includes the landmark National Gallery of Qatar– known as the Desert Rose – designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel and opened in 2019. Qatar Museums is chaired by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Strategy Blueprint
In October 2024 Qatar Tourism unveiled a new roadmap for the country’s fast-evolving tourism sector, reinforcing its role as a cornerstone of national diversification efforts as outlined under QNV 2030. The updated strategy builds on the existing framework laid out in that document and in the NDS-3, which targets 6m annual visitors by 2030 and a 10-12% contribution to GDP from tourism. As it builds towards this target the sector has been led by the goals laid out in QNV 2030, namely enhancing infrastructure delivery, improving service quality and strengthening Qatar’s global position as a tourism destination. The new plan places renewed emphasis on these goals, and on leveraging the country’s various cultural and heritage assets, developing a leading events calendar, and continued rollout of new accommodation options, transport links and tourism infrastructure across the country.
Speaking at the launch, Al Kharji noted that the updated roadmap is designed to improve sector competitiveness and stimulate private sector investment, particularly in the hospitality space. “Key factors are aligning to create an environment conducive to sustainable tourism growth, positively impacting the national economy and strengthening Qatar’s position on the global tourism map,” he said at the time.
To support these efforts, the plan promotes a clear, investor-friendly policy framework, enhanced public-private collaboration and a legislative environment geared towards long-term growth. Al Kharji also pointed to the opportunity to diversify Qatar’s tourism offering, with growth potential spanning the cultural, sports, family, recreational, business, medical, conference and environmental segments.
Key Performance Metrics
Qatar’s tourism sector has surged in recent years as the country has successfully positioned itself as a pillar of long-term economic growth. QNV 2030 targets a GDP contribution of 10-12% by 2030 and the sector is well on track to achieve this goal. Spending by inbound visitors grew from QR24bn ($6.6bn) in 2022 to QR30bn ($8.2bn) in 2023 and further to QR40bn ($11bn) in 2024. In 2024 tourism represented 8% of GDP in real terms, up from 6.8% in 2022.
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) the country was on track for another record-breaking year in 2024, with spending from inbound tourists forecast to reach QR90.8bn ($24.9bn), representing an estimated 11.3% share of GDP. This growth trajectory is projected to continue with WTTC forecasts suggesting the sector’s annual GDP contribution will grow to more than QR135bn ($37.1bn) by 2034, accounting for nearly 13% of the national economy and supporting as many as 458,000 jobs – roughly one in five residents.
The number of jobs in the sector is rising with its contribution to GDP. In 2022, 128,000 individuals were employed in tourism, a figure that rose to 143,000 in 2023 and 160,000 in 2024. As the number of visitors continues to rise, it is expected the number of jobs in the sector will rise further, boosting local opportunities and supporting economic diversification.
Domestic visitor spend posted stronger-than-ever results in 2023, reaching QR1.4bn ($384.3m). Perhaps because of the momentum generated by the World Cup visits at the end of 2022, spending by overseas visitors in 2023 increased by nearly 40% to QR60.4bn ($16.6bn) according to official figures. Despite this growth however, the 2023 figure was still QR1.2bn ($329.4m) off the all-time spending record. This record looked set to be toppled in 2024, as spending by international tourists was on track to reach QR69.6bn ($19.1bn), while domestic spend was set to reach QR12bn ($3.3bn).
Helping underpin the country’s surging tourism sector performance is the country’s robust transport infrastructure. Doha is recognised a vital aviation centre in the region and ranked 23rd internationally in the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Travel & Tourism Development Index. Meanwhile the emerging importance of Qatar’s tourism economy is reflected in a series of international metrics and rankings. Qatar ranks 13th in Asia in Bloom Consulting’s Country Brand 2024-25 Ranking, up five positions from 18th in the previous edition. Doha was ranked first internationally by UK-based travel agency and search aggregator Skyscanner in 2022 thanks to the 2022 FIFA World Cup’s associated bookings and was listed among China-headquartered travel technology company Ctrip’s top dream destinations for 2023. In 2024 the country placed 53rd on the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index.
Visitor Numbers & Source Markets
Qatar’s visitor numbers grew by 25% to reach 5.1m in 2024, according to figures released by Qatar Tourism. This successful performance underlines the rapid strides the country’s tourism sector has made as it works to position itself as a leading destination both within the region and around the world.
The arrival figures reveal Qatar’s wide-ranging demographic appeal, with GCC nationals accounting for 41% of visitors and the remaining 59% coming from key international markets. In 2024 neighbouring Saudi Arabia was Qatar’s leading source of inbound visitors, with a total of 1.4m making the journey, a 35% increase compared to 2023. This represented the second-highest gain across all markets and reflects the continued trend toward normalisation of economic relations since the successful resolution of the dispute between the two countries in 2021. Indeed, the authorities in both countries are keen to capitalise on tourism co-benefits by undertaking joint initiatives. In March 2024 Qatar Tourism, the Saudi Tourism Authority and Discover Saudi, a subsidiary of Almosafer, jointly introduced the Double the Discovery campaign, aiming to promote tourism in Qatar and Saudi Arabia through curated travel packages.
UK visitor numbers recorded the highest growth rate overall, with these rising by 39% to reach 220,000, making it Qatar’s third-largest source market in 2024. India represented the second-largest source market with 430,000 visitors, reflecting a 2% increase on 2023 figures. Other key source markets also recorded notable growth. These included the US, which saw a 21% increase in visitor numbers reaching 200,000, while arrivals from GCC neighbours Oman and the UAE both stood at 170,000, a growth rate of 22% and 20%, respectively. Germany rounded out the top five, with 165,000 visitors in 2024, a slight increase of 1% compared to the previous year.
Connectivity
One significant factor in this success is the geostrategic location Qatar enjoys, sitting at a crossroads between South-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent to the east, Africa to the south and Eurasia to the west. Indeed, the country is six to seven hours away from many of the world’s major population centres via air. National flag carrier and award-winning airline Qatar Airways has capitalised on this positioning and connects Doha to over 170 destinations worldwide as of May 2025. Meanwhile, Doha’s Hamad International Airport (HIA) announced that in 2024 annual point-to-point passenger traffic increased at a faster rate than transfer traffic for the first time ever, underlining Qatar’s increasing appeal as a tourist destination. Overall, the capital’s airport handled a record-breaking 52.7m passengers in 2024, up 15% on 2023 figures. HIA is in the middle of an expansion programme, the first phase of which was completed in 2022 and increased the airport’s capacity to over 53m annual passengers. As of early 2025 the project was progressing into its second phase, which will see the facility’s capacity expand to around 70m passengers once it is complete.
While Qatar’s aviation industry is well established, the country has also been working to boost numbers arriving by other means, notably by sea. In 2024 almost 60% of foreign visitors arrived by air while 37% arrived by land and 7% by sea. The 2024/25 cruise season is poised to be the country’s most successful yet with 95 scheduled calls, including 33 turnaround calls, 11 homeporting operations and five maiden visits and over 430,000 passengers expected.
Meanwhile, as part of the revamped tourism plan launched in October 2024, the Surprise Yourself campaign will target an as-of-yet unannounced 10 strategic international markets, aiming to attract families, couples and groups of friends to explore some of the lesser-known attractions that Qatar has to offer. Alongside this, the Qatar Stopover campaign was launched and is aimed at visitors in transit through the country with a layover time of less than 24 hours. This will allow travellers to get a glimpse of the country and take in some of the local culture before continuing their onward journey.
Accommodation & Hospitality
2024 proved a banner year for Qatar’s hospitality sector as significant improvement across key performance metrics saw hotel occupancy, international visitor arrivals and accommodation revenue all posting strong growth. With over 40,000 hotel rooms operational in Qatar the country has positioned itself to accommodate an ever-increasing number of visitors while catering to an expanding range of visitor demand.
By the end of 2024 the country’s total hotel supply had reached 40,405 room keys, while the overall occupancy rate across all accommodation categories rose by an impressive 19%, reaching 69.3%. This figure is well above the GCC average of 59.7% recorded in 2022. Premium accommodation options continue to dominate the market with 5- and 4-star hotel room keys totalling 27,442 or 67.9% of the total. Three to one star hotels accounted for the smallest share with 3038 keys available, or 7.5%.
Meanwhile there were 9925 hotel apartments available in 2024, taking up an 24.6% share. Hotel apartments were the strongest performers when it came to average occupancy, achieving an average occupancy rate of 74.6%. 5- and 4-star establishments achieved average occupancy rates of 63.7% and 69%, respectively, while 1-3-star offerings posted 70.2% average occupancy through the year. Seasonality continues to affect occupancy, with rates peaking at 85% in November and December driven by an influx of visitors in those months, while the average length of stay remained steady at 3.6 nights.
Looking ahead, Qatar’s hospitality sector is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% from $900m in 2023 to $1.5bn in 2028 according to Dubai-based Alpen Capital, representing the fastest growth rate of any GCC country. Much of this expansion is being driven by the post-2022 FIFA World Cup momentum, with a growing calendar of major sports and cultural events helping to sustain the sector’s upward trajectory. Hotel room supply in Qatar is projected to grow at an annualised rate of 6.3% from 2023-28, resulting in average daily rate (ADR) growing at a CAGR of 2.1% over the period to 2028. ADR is set to reach $125 by that year, up from $112.6 in 2023. Meanwhile revenue per available room is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% to reach $81.20 by 2028, up from $65.30 in 2023.
World Cup Legacy
The 2022 FIFA World Cup may be in the Qatar’s rear-view mirror, but the goodwill and momentum that it generated is still fuelling the country’s tourism and sports sectors. A combined 3.4m people attended games over the course of the four-week tournament, including 1.4m foreign visitors, with an overall average attendance capacity of 96.3%. Worldwide, an estimated 5bn people engaged with the tournament. Closer to home, coverage of the final was aired live across the MENA region on BeIN Sports to an estimated 242.8m people, or 67.8% of the channel’s potential TV audience.
The decision to host football’s top event reflects Qatar’s ambitious agenda to position tourism at the centre of its economic diversification plans, an ambition backed by the significant spending on infrastructure, stadiums and hospitality capacity that took place in the run-up to the event. From when the country won the bid to host the event in 2010 right up to the event in 2022 Qatar spent $220bn on key infrastructure and tourism projects, of which some $10bn was spent on stadium projects. Approximately 30,000 hotel rooms were added while the period also witnessed the construction of the Doha Metro and expansion of the Lusail Tram network. During the group stage, the busiest stage of the tournament, these networks recorded 9.2m trips and a daily average of 707,032 passengers, approximately one quarter of Qatar’s total population in 2022.
In December 2024 Doha once again welcomed the world’s footballing elite when it hosted the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2024, which saw Spanish club Real Madrid emerge as winners over Mexico’s Pachuca at the final in Lusail Stadium in front of 67,000 fans. Away from the football pitch, in November 2024 details were released of the FIFA World Cup Legacy Fund originally announced in November 2022. The $50m fund will be invested in a series of international social programmes in collaboration with three bodies: the World Health Organisation, the World Trade Organisation and the UN Refugee Agency. The Legacy Fund will be implemented in cooperation with Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
Other Sports
In 2024 Qatar hosted a total of 85 sports events, including 15 world championships, testament to the enormous strides the country has made in promoting its sports industry. Arguably the starting gun moment came back in 2010 when it was announced that Qatar would host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This provided a major boost to the country’s sports events industry and spurred rapid activity across the sector. In the last 10 years the country has hosted over 500 sports events, including the Swimming World Cup in 2014, the Handball World Cup in 2015, the Road Cycling World Championships in 2016, the Gymnastics World Cup in 2018 and the Arab Cup in 2021. The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the crowning moment and cemented Qatar’s reputation as a major sports destination. Since then, the country has hosted the AFC Asian Cup in 2023, the 2024 World Aquatics Championships and the 2024 Asian Games, which it is also due to host again in 2030.
Qatar is an established fixture on a variety of international sports circuits including World Tennis, Golf and MotoGP. Meanwhile the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix was held in November 2021 at the Lusail International Circuit. Following a pause in 2022 the country re-joined the F1 calendar in 2023 under a 10-year contract. Qatar is also reportedly interested in bidding for Doha to be the location of the 2036 Summer Olympics, and the country has petitioned the International Olympic Committee to participate in the initial dialogue phase of the event’s organisation.
To underline its commitment to fostering the emergence of as wide a range of sports as possible, Qatar established a National Sports Day, which takes place on the second Tuesday of February each year. This national holiday is dedicated to sports and physical well-being. It also presents an opportunity for citizens to celebrate the wide range of sports activities that are now promoted domestically, from football – the country’s national sport – and athletics to more niche sports activities like fencing and wrestling. The holiday also features more traditional sports pursuits such as falconry and camel racing. Underpinning all this is the abundant sports infrastructure authorities have made available for locals and foreigners alike. The country has 67 sports institutions and 264 public sports facilities, the latter of which includes 68 football pitches and 33 tennis courts.
International sports success has followed. Qatar’s national football team was victorious in the AFC Asian Cup in 2024, beating Jordan 3-1 in the final at home in Doha’s Lusail Stadium. The team’s first-place medal marked Qatar’s second consecutive trophy in the AFC Asian Cup, having previously beaten Japan to win the 2019 tournament hosted by the UAE. Meanwhile at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, high jump champion Mutaz Barshim claimed his fourth Olympic medal, winning bronze, adding to his two silvers and one gold he had won at previous games. Barshim was the first Qatari to win four Olympic medals.
Niche Markets
Alongside the growth of the country’s sports sector, authorities have also been working to bolster Qatar’s position as a thriving events centre, hosting national and international gatherings that cater to a growing variety of business and leisure interests and tastes. In total, Qatar Tourism hosted a record 80 events in 2024, with many taking place again in 2025. These include Doha Expo, the region’s first ever horticultural exhibition; the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition; the Qatar International Food Festival, which took place in February 2024 and 2025 and attracted almost 260,000; Web Summit Qatar, which also took place in February 2024 and 2025; and the Qatar Economic Forum, which will be returning for its fifth year in May 2025. Meanwhile, local platform I Love Qatar had almost 1000 smaller scale events listed as of May 2025, with activities ranging from food and dining, community and pet-focused events, to arts, culture and entertainment gigs.
Culture
Qatar’s cultural offerings have become a mainstay of the nation’s tourism sector, with the Katara Cultural Village, the Museum of Islamic Art and the National Museum of Qatar all playing host to major events and exhibitions. In 2023 work began on the northern tip of the country to transform an abandoned settlement into a modern tourist destination. As of May 2025 restoration efforts were ongoing at the Al Mayfar site, which will feature eco-friendly and heritage focused activities when it opens to the public. Qatar is also home to the Al Zubarah archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The country’s cultural institutions are managed by Qatar Museums, which since its founding in 2005 has overseen the Museum of Islamic Art and MIA Park, Mathaf; The Arab Museum of Modern Art; The National Museum of Qatar; QM Gallery Al Riwaq; QM Gallery Katara; and the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum. Future museums include Dadu, Children’s Museum of Qatar and Qatar Auto Museum, both of which are set to open in 2026; as well as Lusail Museum and Art Mill Museum, both of which are set to open their doors in 2029 and 2030, respectively.
Outlook
The future of Qatar’s tourism sector remains positive as the knock-on effects of the 2022 FIFA World Cup continue and visitor numbers rise. The country welcomed just over 5m visitors in 2024, putting it on track to achieve its target of 6m visitors annually by 2030. The emphasis is shifting from key infrastructure delivery to strategic diversification and service excellence. The updated roadmap launched by Qatar Tourism in October 2024 aims to strengthen competitiveness, attract greater private investment – particularly in hospitality – and broaden the country’s appeal across multiple visitor segments, including cultural, sports and heritage tourism. Employment in the sector remains strong and growing, with an estimated 15.8% of the national workforce employed in the sector in 2024, with current projections estimating this will reach 20% by 2034.
Alongside robust land travel from the GCC and air traffic through HIA, the emerging cruise segment is picking up, with five maiden visits expected in the 2024/25 season. Challenges remain, such as seasonality, climate and regulatory constraints around nightlife. However, with a strong events pipeline, cultural momentum and a strategic vision, Qatar is well positioned to cement its role among the region’s most competitive and dynamic tourism markets.
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