Doha, Qatar: Visitors from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries contributed significantly to the strong growth in tourist arrivals to Qatar in June 2023.
The country has attracted visitors from across the regions with travellers from GCC countries making up 42 percent of the total arrivals, according to the official data by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA), yesterday.
The country welcomed 118,597 visitors from the GCC in June 2023, against 104,432 in May of this year and 59,620 in the same month in 2022, recording a surge of 13.6 percent and 99 percent month-on-month and year-on-year basis.
Travellers from Gulf region constituted 42 percent in total arrivals. While other Arab countries represented 9 percent as 26,261 visitors came to Qatar from this region in June 2023 compared to 10,134 in June 2022, registering a rise of 159.1 percent on annual basis.
The number of tourists from GCC countries increased during Eid Al Adha holidays in June as the country offers attractions to visit and a splendid blend of heritage and modern facilities.
Of the total arrivals, 168,463 visitors came to Qatar by flights in June 2023 against 88,054 visitors in June 2022, registering a rise of 91.3 percent year-on-year. The visitors who came via sea totaled to 1,325 while 112,206 entered the country through land border.
According to the report, from the total visitors, 28 percent belonged to Asian countries. The data revealed that 78,045 visitors came from Asia (including Oceania) in June this year, compared to 33,790 in the same month in 2022, a rise of 131 percent on an annual basis. Visitors from other African countries stood at 5,642 in June 2023.
Visitor arrivals measure non-residents travelling to Qatar on a short-term basis for all purposes. It includes arrivals at borders under different 15 visa classes, including all businesses and leisure visa types excluding work visas.
While the European visitors accounted for 13 percent of the total and they stood at 35,415 in June 2023 compared to 24,502 in same period in 2022. Visitors from the Americas were 18,034 in June this year, representing a share of 6 percent of the total arrivals.
Hamad International Airport has witnessed an influx of travelers flying to and from Doha with a recorded 33.5 percent increase in passenger traffic and 18.1 percent increase in aircraft movements from the same period last year.
The airport saw a total of 20,775,087 passengers during the first half of 2023 – moving 10,315,695 passengers in the first quarter of the year and a further 10,459,392 in the second quarter. Aircraft movements during the first half of 2023 also increased compared to last year, with a total of 116,296 arriving and departing from the airport – 56,417 in the first quarter of 2023 and 59,879 in the second quarter.
Qatar’s industry-leading suite of attractions, continuous schedule of events and trademark warm Arabian hospitality ushered in an incredible first half of the year for the country’s tourism sector.
Last month, Qatar Tourism announced that Qatar welcomed more than two million international visitors, with the months of May and June registering the highest figure (567,000) ever recorded for these two months in the last 10 years. International arrivals in 2023 have so far doubled compared to the levels seen pre-pandemic (1,053,000 in 2019).
