Qatar witnessed strong growth in the arrival of visitors which boosted the tourism sector. As many as 433,114 visitors arrived in March 2023 compared to 152,772 in the same month last year showing a surge of 183.5 percent.
Also, the total number of inbound visitors saw a monthly increase of 11.3 percent on monthly basis in March compared to February 2023 according to the latest report released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).
Visitors from GCC countries contributed significantly to the strong growth in tourist arrivals in Qatar. In visitor arrivals by region, GCC countries make up 38 percent of the total arrivals as the number of visitors stood at 164,410 in March 2023, against 21,900 in the same month last year, showing a surge of 207.4 percent.
Maintaining its momentum from last year’s global tournament, Qatar welcomed a total of 730,000 visitors in January and February 2023, marking an increase of 347 percent from the previous year.
The visitors from other African countries stood at 7,202 in March 2023 compared to 3,173 in same period in 2022 and 4,558 in last month of this year registering an increase of 127 percent and 58 percent on yearly and monthly basis. While the European visitors totalled 114,681 in March this year and travellers from this region accounted for 26 percent of the total. Visitors from the Americas stood at 26,567 in March 2023 compared to 10,705 in same period last year.
Of the total arrivals, 204,382 came to Qatar by flights; 157,330 via land; while 74,402 visitors came via sea. Of the total visitors, 20 percent were from Asian countries. According to the report, 85,234 visitors came from Asia (including Oceania) in March this year, compared to 36,969 in March 2022, a rise of 130.6 percent.
Travellers from other Arab countries represented 8 percent of the total visitor arrivals as 35,020 visitors came to Qatar from this region in March this year compared to 11,736 in the same month last year recording a rise of 198.4 percent.
