Doha: Qatar will receive an unprecedented opportunity to showcase the country to a global audience during the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022, a realty expert said yesterday.
Addressing the Cityscape Qatar conference, Johnny Archer, Head of Research and Consulting at Cushman and Wakefield said there is currently limited awareness or recognition of Qatar as a destination for tourism from a global audience.
“World Cups in Germany, Russia, and South Africa boosted their profile and reputation as tourist destinations in the three years after the event. Each country noted an uplift in visitor numbers in the three years post-event,” Archer said.
He added that there was a 22 percent to 27 percent reported growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR) post-World Cup. And hotels that benefited most were 7-10 years old, post stabilisation where costs and efficiencies could be managed better.
“Also, Qatar Airways’ widespread network, coupled with a vastly increased profile for Qatar post-2022 should help to increase the percentage of stop-over visits with transit passengers,” Archer added.
It is estimated that there was in the region of 20,000 hotel keys in the supply pipeline at the beginning of 2022. Cushman and Wakefield estimates that between 5,000 and 7,000 keys may be complete in time for the FIFA World Cup in November 2022.
“International supply chain delays over the past two years has delayed the proposed opening of a number of hotels that were due to complete in 2021 and 2022,” said Archer.
He added: “We estimate that in the region of 45,000 rooms or 37,000 keys (hotels, hotel apartments and serviced apartments) will be delivered by November 2022. Tournament accommodation will be bolstered by cruise ships, camping facilities, apartments and villas”.
Speaking about the retail real estate market, Archer said the supply of organised retail has increased by more than 130 percent since 2015.
“Major developments such as Doha Festival City, Mall of Qatar, and Palace Vendome have improved the quality of retail offering significantly. Further supply will be dominated with the upcoming opening of the Doha Mall and Northgate Mall, which will provide more than 180,000sqm more of gross leasable area,” he added.
Archer went on to stress that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has resulted in a spike in demand for residential supply in the country, which has become particularly evident since April 2022.
“Surge in demand has resulted in limited vacancy and escalating rents. Rental spike will be temporary, and many landlords are looking to capitalise on World Cup premium,” he said.
He added that apartments are currently seeing the highest increase, with some rents having increased by over 30 percent since the previous renewal in 2021.
There are also increasing evidence of leases not being renewed, which is expected to increase in the second half of the year. Two-year leases are also increasingly being demanded by landlords in anticipation of a fall in rental values in 2023, he added.
