Qatar has committed to reaching 50,000 additional rooms by 2022, when it will host the FIFA World Cup.
Three million people visited Qatar in 2015, according to Qatar Tourism Authority, and Doha is aiming to attract four million tourists per year by 2020.
The plans are part of the country's efforts to boost tourism GDP contribution over the next decade, supported by US$40-45 billion worth of investment under its National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030.
A Q3 2015 HVS report called In Focus: Doha, Tracking Progress, stated that travel and tourism contributed $4.2 billion - or 2% - to the GDP in 2014, with a figure of $4.6 billion forecast for 2015 (a rise of 7.3%).
"Looking further ahead, this is expected to grow annually by 4.7%, to reach $7.2 billion in 2025 as Qatar works towards its strategic goal of positioning itself as a world-class hub with deep cultural roots, by creating a high profile product that will appeal to all market segments from cultural tourists and families to sports fans and business travellers," said Nadege Noblet-Segers, exhibition manager, Arabian Travel Market.
Other data revealed that, in Q3 2015, GCC residents accounted for 45.2% of total visitor numbers followed by visitors from Asia and Europe at 25.3% and 13.9% respectively.
The HVS report notes the addition of 11 new hotel properties with a total of 1,400 rooms to the market in 2015, as part of Qatar's commitment to reach 50,000 additional rooms by 2022, when it will host the FIFA World Cup.
There are about 10,000 rooms currently under construction and expected to enter the market by 2019.
"As we are seeing in other GCC countries, an increasingly diversified tourism portfolio requires an equally broad hospitality offering, looking at both the luxury and mid-range categories, which is something that we are focusing on this year at ATM with midmarket travel our spotlight theme. This is responding not only to the needs of the more budget-conscious traveller, but those for whom quality and experience-led travel doesn't necessarily have to mean a five-star price tag," said Noblet-Segers.
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