Top hotels fear impact of Qatar visa changes

Hoteliers in Doha have expressed concern over the potential impact of Qatar’s decision to remove visas on arrival for the citizens of 33 countries from May 1.

British and American citizens will have to apply for both tourist and business visas prior to arrival in the Gulf state, according to a statement posted on the website of Qatar’s embassy in the UK last Thursday.

“My first reaction was, well – that’s interesting. It’s potentially an impediment to people travelling to the country, and any kind of restriction of that nature is likely to have a negative impact on business," Four Seasons Hotel Doha general manager Simon Casson told Arabian Business.

Casson added the hotel was now waiting for more information to emerge from the Ministry of the Interior as to how the process would work.

“We’ve been keeping in close touch with the various embassies of the larger countries,” Casson said. “But there hasn’t been any further information as yet.”

A representative from the Grand Hyatt Doha told Arabian Business that the hotel had not been consulted about the changes.

“That would have been ideal but I believe the government made a study before they implemented this new regulation,” director of marketing Taraq Bagaeen indicated.

“This comes as a surprise but we are working to ensure that we are able to assist all our guests to secure a visa to Doha without hindrance and whenever possible through our dedicated visa liaising officers.”

A spokesperson for Qatar Airways, one of the GCC’s biggest airlines and a significant contributor to the country’s economy, told Arabian Business that the carrier was not yet in a position to comment on the new regulations.

The British embassy in Doha confirmed on Tuesday that it had received no new information from the Qatari authorities as to the details of the changes, despite there being only twelve working days left before the new laws come into effect.

But a spokesperson informed Arabian Business that it was her understanding that GCC residents would be able to apply for the visas in their country of residency, rather than having to return to their home states to apply to the Qatari embassy there.