Dr. Charbel Bassil, Associate Professor of Economics at Qatar University
Doha: Qatar’s leisure industry can be burgeoned by implementing various modes including business tourism, shopping tourism, and cultural tourism, which in return will produce a huge capital inflow, said Dr. Charbel Bassil, Associate Professor of Economics at Qatar University in a recent interview with The Peninsula.
“There is enough evidence in research on tourism economics in favour of the tourism-led growth hypothesis,” the economics expert added.
Dr. Bassil highlighted that this hypothesis implies that the sector is poised for growth due to the expenses incurred by the visitors.
“In response to this increase in consumption, aggregate investment increases as foreign and domestic investments are rising in the country,” he noted.
He added that inbound tourism will improve Qatar’s balance of payment and boost the international reserves adding that with this foreign capital, local firms can invest in buying machines and equipment to increase their stock of physical capital.
“Moreover, the experience tourists live when visiting a country may encourage them to invest,” he remarked.
According to World Bank figures, Qatar benefited from the FIFA World Cup 2022, which saw over 2 million tourists flocking to witness the mega event and the foreign tourism receipts amounted to QR26.58bn ($7.3bn).
Dr. Bassil underscored that the easing of visa procedures for over 100 countries resulted in the increasing number of arrivals in Qatar. With the hosting of several international and regional sports in 2023 and beyond, Qatar anticipates a stable flow of visitors that would render the leisure market more dynamic.
However, the country will need to overcome certain obstacles to continue seeing a resilient tourism industry, said the expert. He highlighted that one of the primary challenges is the “Regional competition from countries that have a well-established tourism sector.”
Albeit Qatar has state-of-the-art infrastructures and facilities to attract people across the globe, the country must “differentiate itself and promote a unique experience for tourists.”
The expert elucidated that Qatar’s tourism presence and activities must be expanded to bring more people in. He stressed that extending visa facilities to more countries, creating and strengthening air connectivity, and improving connectivity makes it more convenient for tourists to travel to and from Qatar.
Dr. Bassil said, “Besides sports tourism and cultural tourism, Qatar can develop other tourism offerings like medical tourism, gastronomy, or educational tourism. Diversification of tourism products will increase competitiveness and the efficiency of the tourism sector.”
“In recent years, Qatar invested in the development of its leisure and tourism sector. During the last 2 years, Qatar hosted major international sports events. Moreover, the ease of visa requirements for many countries shall increase the number of visitors. All this will probably enhance the leisure industry’s growth and promote Qatar as a tourist destination, he added.
Qatar Tourism’s top officials have said that the country expects more than six million visitors per year and will significantly contribute to the country’s GDP growth by over 7 percent within the next seven years.
