Skift Take
The World Cup gave Qatar the opportunity to show the world its possibilities as a tourist destination. As Soon As the World Cup is over, international public attention will scatter and memories will fade. Authorities state they’ll be happy as a vibrant stopover destination.
Dawit Habtemariam
As the 2022 FIFA World Cup draws to a close, Qatar prepares to capitalize on the international event’s publicity, visitation numbers and supporting facilities as a chance to put the nation on the map as a competitive traveler location moving on.
“5 billion eyeballs of the world were taking a look at Qatar and seeing a lot of positive news and individuals going house are blown away by what this country and area needs to provide,” said Qatar Tourism Chief Operating Officer Berthold Trenkel on Wednesday at a session entitled “Lessons from the World Cup: Where We Go From Here” at Skift Global Forum East in Dubai.
In terms of promotion, Trenkel stated there’s been a “market shift in the tone and in the posts” about Qatar’s hosting of the sport occasion. The nation just recently got some negative publicity for prohibiting liquors at stadiums two days prior to the very first match. Trenkel said the choice added to developing a family friendly and relaxed environment, which was regularly mentioned in evaluations of the occasion.
During the conversation, Skift CEO Rafat Ali asked Trenkel about media reports stating the nation missed its visitation target, what the factor may be and expectations moving on. Qatar got simply over 765,000 visitors during the very first 2 weeks of the World Cup, falling short of the 1.2 million anticipated for the month-long occasion.
Trenkel stated there’s still time for Qatar to hit its target as the event goes into the last games this weekend. Croatia will be playing Morocco for third place and France will be playing Argentina for the championship. Qatar anticipates a “huge increase” of visitors from Saudi Arabia for the upcoming video games this weekend, according to Trenkel. “Let’s tally once we are done,” he stated.
Trenkel also spoke about what’s next for the stadiums integrated in the added to the World Cup. The momentary arena Stadium 974 is being taken apart, and there are plans to utilize the offered space, according to Trenkel. Some of the smaller sized arenas will be utilized for other sports.
Some stadiums could be converted for usages other than sport occasions. “Some will be converted and there are different concepts under research study, where you can imagine turning it into a type of biosphere jungle environment,” Trenkel stated.
With the brand-new promotion and infrastructure, the nation will be strongly pushing to take local market share and get a return on all of the new hotels its integrated in the last couple of months. “Over the last couple of months, we have actually grown from around 30,000 keys to 45,000 by January, and we are under responsibility to maximize tenancy,” he said.
The country prepares to utilize Hamad International Airport’s position as a worldwide connection center to tempt visitors into taking stopover trips. “Hamad International Airport, which is rated as the best airport worldwide, is something we require to more actively exploit because we currently have all these individuals flying on Qatar Airways,” Trenkel stated. Qatar will be “calling up the concept of the stopover concept” and encouraging visitors to take pleasure in the nation’s culture, museums, and the well-known marketplace Souq Waqif.
Provided the nation’s size and density, the stopover push is a much better fit for the location. “We are not a huge country where you can be found in, you’re going to do a journey taking a trip for 4 weeks or anything,” stated Trenkel. “We are a small compact location so pressing the angle of stopover is a lot more suited actually to the location that Qatar is.”
Qatar also wants to unlock new markets. The nation will be inviting its very first charter flight in January, and it will bring tourists from among the “ex-Russian countries” wanting to make the most of Qatar’s winter season weather condition, Bethel stated. “Opening those things puts us for the first time on the roadway where tourist is becoming severe.”