Qatar Tourism says that the number of international tourists visiting the country has surged rapidly in October, scaling a six-year high of over 180,000.

Ever since the FIFA Football World Cup began in Doha in November Qatar, the country has been flooded with tourists from all over the world. However, as per data released by Qatar Tourism, the boom in tourist arrivals had begun well before the first match began in Doha.

According to a press statement by Qatar Tourism, a suite of events, new launches and impending football fever drove visitor numbers during the month to nearly 180,000, a six-year high. The statement adds that throughout 2022, visitors have steadily increased month on month, and the latest October figures exceeded pre-pandemic numbers by nearly a third, standing 32 pc more than in October 2017.

The statement says that Qatar continues to offer attractions and family-friendly entertainment for visitors from the region, making visitors from the GCC the leading source of all international visitors, accounting for over a third at 33 pc to the country in October. At the same time, October saw a 10 pc increase from the prior month on the number of non-GCC tourists, at 66 pc of the total, an increase of 10 pc.

Beyond the GCC nations, India was the largest source market for Qatar in October, accounting for 13 pc. Far behind India lay the UK with 4 pc and the USA with 3 pc, says Qatar Tourism report. It adds that over 70 pc of visitors chose to arrive by air, followed by land with 29 pc and just 1 pc by sea.

The statement says that a packed schedule of launches and openings greeted Qatar’s visitors in October, including the reopening of the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), luxury malls (Printemps), and a spate of world-leading luxury hotels.

Towards the end of the month, the Darb Lusail Festival officially inaugurated the pedestrian friendly Lusail Boulevard, the country’s latest open-air shopping and dining destination. The three-day celebration of Lusail City and the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region featured concerts and DJ performances, roaming shows and a spectacular nightly drone show.

“As we welcome the world’s football fans, we are delighted to see so many people from around the globe keen to experience all that Qatar has to offer. The line-up of events, openings and festivities that have been happening across the country over the last couple of months have been simply unmatched, and we look forward to taking this positive spirit with us beyond December 18th,” says Haya Al-Noaimi, Head of Promotion Sector at Qatar Tourism.

Qatar’s active calendar has seen the country’s tourism sector mark a strong recovery this year, with more than one million travellers preferring Qatar as their destination of choice so far, up from 611,000 in 2021. There was an 8 pc year-on-year increase in room keys issued in the country’s hotels throughout the month of October, a marked achievement given the recent growth in supply, says the statement.