Travel And Tourism in Qatar

Euromonitor International's Travel And Tourism in Qatar report offers a comprehensive guide to the market at a national level. It looks at travel accommodation, transportation, car rental, tourist attractions and retail travel. It identifies the leading companies and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market, including background information on disposable income, annual leave and holiday taking habits.

Buy online to access strategic market analysis and an interactive statistical database of market size data for travel accommodation, transportation, car rental, travel retail, tourism attractions and health and wellness tourism, tourism inflows and outflows, tourism spending and company and brand shares.

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Executive summary

Qatar Airways rapidly expanding and rising in prominence

Qatar Airways, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, is aggressively expanding its fleet size, routes and revenues as it aims to become a global player. The company is aggressively beefing up its services to provide flights for Asia and the Gulf as more and more affluent Middle East tourists will choose the Asia Pacific region as their vacation destination. Riyadh, Teheran, Sanaa, Sharjah, Bali and Hong Kong are just some of the destinations expected to boost the profitability of Qatar Airways. The carrier averaged nearly 40% annual growth in both passenger numbers and revenue in 2006 and its fleet will almost triple in size to reach 110 aircraft by 2018. New orders for planes total US$16 billion.

The economy powers ahead

From 2000 to 2005, Qatar’s gross domestic product (GDP) doubled from US$17.5 billion to over US$35 billion. Oil production in the tiny country surpassed 1 million barrels per day for the first time and liquid natural gas output tripled. The government expects a budget surplus of around US$2.36 billion (QR8.61billion) in 2006.

Qatar’s double-digit economic growth makes it attractive to international investors, especially in the tourism sector. A stable government, the country’s high credit ratings and the leadership’s forward-looking vision provide an optimistic scenario for investors as well as reassure them about the credibility and safety of their investments. In the first two years of the forecast period, the transportation and hotel sectors in the travel and tourism industry will feel most of the positive impact as investment in these two sectors is expected to rise dramatically. To a lesser extent, travel retailers will see some impact. The country’s strong economy helps ensure Qataris keep on spending money and inevitably some of this goes towards travel.

Government spearheads an ambitious tourism master plan

Similar to other GCC states, Qatar’s travel and tourism growth is spearheaded by government mandate. After seeing the success of Dubai, Qatar has an ambitious strategy to propel the tiny nation onto the world stage and boost annual visitor arrivals from 730,000 in 2005 to 1.4 million by 2008. Intra-regional rivalry and the desire to play catch up to the Gulf’s biggest overnight tourism sensation, Dubai, added impetus for Qatar to keep tourism development at the forefront. ‘If Dubai can do it, so can we’ is the prevailing attitude of Qatar’s rulers.

Initiatives undertaken by Qatar stimulated the construction of new upmarket hotels, resorts, high-rise apartments, restaurants, museums and leisure facilities at unprecedented levels. Because the country is essentially building its tourism industry from the ground up, there are opportunities across the entire spectrum of tourism services providers. However, it must be noted that inbound arrivals to Qatar are almost entirely business travellers. The country still has a long way to go in pursuing leisure visitors.

Major sporting events host

Qatar is host to several major sporting events. Officials continue to lobby hard to secure world-class athletic competitions to be staged in the country. By hosting events such as the Asian Games, Qatar is elevating its position in the global arena and adding to international awareness of its potential as a tourist destination. It is a clever strategy, leveraging on the worldwide reach of a multi-billion dollar global sports industry to develop a niche position as the Middle East’s premier sporting events destination. This approach dovetails nicely with efforts to promote itself as an international conference and exhibition centre; both strategies represent two key pillars in Qatar’s plan to differentiate itself from its neighbours.

Table of contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

QATAR AIRWAYS RAPIDLY EXPANDING AND RISING IN PROMINENCE

THE ECONOMY POWERS AHEAD

GOVERNMENT SPEARHEADS AN AMBITIOUS TOURISM MASTER PLAN

MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS HOST

KEY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

QATAR AIRWAYS RAPIDLY EXPANDING AND RISING IN PROMINENCE

Outlook

Impact

QATAR’S ECONOMY POWERS AHEAD

Outlook

Impact

GOVERNMENT SPEARHEADING AN AMBITIOUS TOURISM MASTER PLAN

Outlook

Impact

MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS HOST

Outlook

Impact

TRAVEL ACCOMMODATION

DEVELOPMENT BOOM IN THE HOTEL SECTOR

TOP-TIER HOTELS

LONGER TERM ACCOMODATION

ONLINE

TRANSPORTATION

QATAR AIRWAYS SPREADS ITS WINGS

AIRPORT EXPANSION WILL HELP FACILITATE QATAR AIRWAY’S GROWTH

DEDICATED FIRST AND BUSINESS CLASS TERMINAL

TRAVEL RETAIL

WEALTHY QATARIS LIKE TO TRAVEL

INCREASING COMPETITION

CORPORATE TRAVEL MARKET A NEW GROWTH AREA

MARKET DATA

Table 1 Length of Trip: 2000-2005

Table 2 Arrivals by Country of Origin: 2000-2005

Table 3 Arrivals by Method of Transport: 2000-2005

Table 4 Arrivals by Purpose of Visit: 2000-2005

Table 5 Departures: 2000-2005

Table 6 Departures by Destination: 2000-2005

Table 7 Departures by Mode of Transport: 2000-2005

Table 8 Departures by Purpose of Visit: 2000-2005

Table 9 Domestic Trips by Mode of Transport: 2000-2005

Table 10 Incoming Tourist Receipts: 2000-2005

Table 11 Incoming Tourist Receipts % Growth: 2000-2005

Table 12 Outgoing Tourism Expenditure: 2000-2005

Table 13 Outgoing Tourism Expenditure % Growth: 2000-2005

Table 14 Domestic Tourist Expenditure: 2000-2005

Table 15 Forecast Arrivals by Country of Origin: 2005-2010

Table 16 Forecast Arrivals by Method of Transport: 2005-2010

Table 17 Forecast Departures: 2005-2010

Table 18 Forecast Departures by Destination: 2005-2010

Table 19 Forecast Departures by Mode of Transport: 2005-2010

Table 20 Forecast Incoming Tourist Receipts: 2005-2010

Table 21 Forecast Domestic Tourist Expenditure: 2005-2010

Table 22 Forecast Outgoing Tourism Expenditure: 2005-2010

SECTOR DATA

Table 23 Hotels: Units 2000-2005

Table 24 Regional Hotel Parameters 2005

Table 25 Travel Accommodation Sales by Sector: Value 2000-2005

Table 26 Travel Accommodation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2000-2005

Table 27 Hotel Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2000-2005

Table 28 Hotel Company Rankings 2005

Table 29 Forecast Hotels: Units 2005-2010

Table 30 Forecast Travel Accommodation Sales by Sector: Value 2005-2010

Table 31 Forecast Travel Accommodation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2005-2010

Table 32 Forecast Hotel Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2005-2010

Table 33 Transportation Sales by Sector: Value 2000-2005

Table 34 Airline Company Rankings 2005

Table 35 Transportation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2000-2005

Table 36 Air Travel Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2000-2005

Table 37 Forecast Transportation Sales by Sector: Value 2005-2010

Table 38 Forecast Transportation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2005-2010

Table 39 Forecast Air Travel Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2000-2005

Table 40 Car Rental Sales: Value 2000-2005

Table 41 Car Rental Company Rankings 2005

Table 42 Car Rental Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2000-2005

Table 43 Forecast Car Rental Sales: Value 2005-2010

Table 44 Forecast Car Rental Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2005-2010

Table 45 Travel Retail Outlets: Units 2000-2005

Table 46 Travel Retail Sales: 2000-2005

Table 47 Travel Retail Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2000-2005

Table 48 Travel Retail Company Rankings 2005

Table 49 Forecast Travel Retail Outlets: Units 2005-2010

Table 50 Forecast Travel Retail Sales: 2005-2010

Table 51 Forecast Travel Retail Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2005-2010

Table 52 Tourist Attractions: Value 2000-2005

Table 53 Tourist Attractions Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2001-2005

Table 54 Forecast Tourist Attractions: Value 2005-2010

Table 55 Forecast Tourist Attractions Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2005-2010

DEFINITIONS

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

DEMAND FACTORS

Length of Trip

TOURISM PARAMETERS

Arrivals

Departures

Outgoing tourism expenditure

Domestic tourists

Domestic trips

Domestic tourist expenditure

TRAVEL ACCOMMODATION

Hotels

Other travel accommodation

Number of bed nights

Occupancy rates

Number of rooms and beds

TRANSPORTATION

Air

Other transportation

CAR RENTAL

TRAVEL RETAIL

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

INTERNET SALES

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