Qatar has seen an increasing number of foreign tourists and visitors coming to Qatar in recent years, a dividend of the country’s prudent developmental planning and economic diversification efforts. The tourism sector’s contribution to the national economy has increased and tourists arrivals have gone up manifold. This is a result of country’s spending on the infrastructure with many new public attractions coming up across Qatar in recent years. The country welcomed a record-breaking five million visitors in 2024, reflecting an impressive 25% increase from 2023’s 4,046,281 visitors. December alone turned in strongly with 594,079 visitors, a 14.6% rise from the previous year. The growth was driven by an additional 48,000 air travellers and 35,000 land visitors, according to Qatar Tourism. Qatar’s hospitality sector achieved a new record last year, surpassing 10 million room nights for the first time. GCC nationals make up the majority of visitors to Qatar, a sign of region’s growing integration. Key source markets, including Saudi Arabia, India, United Kingdom, Germany and United States of America, demonstrated substantial growth, reflecting Qatar’s diverse appeal. Qatar’s Stopover Programme for air travellers has also seen a remarkable rise, welcoming over 10,000 stopover visitors in a single month for the first time since the Qatar Stopover Programme’s relaunch in August 2021. In January 2025, the programme recorded more than 10,500 visitors, compared to 6,651 in January 2024. The number of visitors in the stopover programme increased an impressive 165% from April 2024 to January 2025 – as compared to the same timeframe in the previous year. Cruise tourism has also seen significant growth. Qatar has welcomed over 50 cruise ships this season so far, bringing 191,944 cruise passengers to Qatar’s shores. This includes 20,951 turnaround passengers who have used Doha as a starting point for their cruise journeys. Visitors from Germany lead arrival figures with 30.2%, followed by Russia at 10.8% and Italy at 9.2%. This season was further enriched by the arrival of four new cruise ships visiting Doha for the first time. Easing and simplifying the visit visa procedures through the Hayya platform has been instrumental in the growth of the country’s tourism sector. Qatar allows visa-free entry to nationals of 101 countries, while the rest can get an e-visa through the Hayya platform. The Third National Development Strategy 2024-2030 identifies tourism as a key sector for driving sustainable growth and economic diversification. Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 aims to attract six million visitors per year by 2030.
