Qatari tourism sector enjoys steady growth in H1, 2011

Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has revealed that hotel occupancy rates averaged 63% in the first six months of 2011 compared to 61% for the same period in 2010. The authority’s semi-annual report stated that the increase shows the continued growth of the hotel sector despite the opening of a large number of new hotels since the beginning of the year.Meanwhile, QTA reported the number of tourists saw a 12.3% increase during the same period. The report analysed key criteria including occupancy rates and the number of business and leisure tourists. It also highlighted the significant increase in the number of tourists from GCC countries visiting Qatar, which was up 39.1% compared with the same period last year. QTA chairman Ahmed Al Nuaimi said hotel occupancy rates had witnessed a continuous increase since the beginning of the year. On average, hotel occupancy rates reached 63% during the first half of 2011, reflecting the steady growth of the hospitality industry as the demand on hotel reservations recovers. This was compared to 61% during the same period in 2010.Al Nuaimi added that despite the increase in the number of hotel facilities, the surge in occupancy rates was spurred by the greater number of tourists, the steady performance of the national economy, the government focus on developing cultural and sport tourism, the continuous expansion of Qatar Airways destinations and fleet, in addition to the QTA’s efforts to maximise tourist attraction programmes.Spurred by the Asian Football Cup and other sporting events held in Doha, hotel occupancy rates in January 2011 were 74%, 24% higher than in 2010. This strong performance continued through the month of February that saw a significant increase in occupancy rates from 60% in 2010 to 66% in 2011. During the months of March, April, and May a slight decrease in occupancy rates was recorded. This had no effect on the average occupancy rate in the hotel sector during the first half of 2011.The number of international visitors was up 12.3% compared with the same period during last year.As to the number of GCC tourists visiting Doha, it registered the highest growth rate at 39.1% with 398,570 visitors for the first half of 2011 compared to 286,484 for the same period in 2010.Al Nuaimi pointed out that in terms of GCC travellers to Qatar, Saudi Arabia recorded the largest increase in visitors from 148,168 in 2010 to 238,361 visitors from January to May of 2011 – a 60.87 per cent increase.The UAE came second in terms of the number of travellers to Doha that welcomed 49,664 Emirati tourists compared to 38,736 in 2010.