Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

International visitors spent $14.3bn in Qatar last year

By Pramod Kumar
REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
General view of East-West/West-East sculpture by an American artist, Richard Serra, in the desert of Dukhan, Qatar

International visitors to Qatar spent QR52.1 billion ($14.31 billion) in 2021, accounting for almost 14.5 percent of the country’s exports last year, according to World Travel & Tourism Council figures reported in the Gulf Times.

Leisure spending reached QR44.73 billion, 75 percent of the total spending in 2021.

The travel and tourism sector contributed QR67.6 billion to the Gulf state’s economy, or 10.3 percent of the total GDP, in 2021, the World Travel & Tourism Council said.

Indians accounted for 8 percent of the total arrivals, followed by Kuwait (4 percent), Oman (3 percent), the UK (2 percent) and the US (2 percent).

Turkey topped the list of outbound departures with 14 percent, followed by Kuwait (12 percent), Bahrain (11 percent), Saudi Arabia (10 percent) and the US (5 percent).

The council said the tourism sector employed almost 250,000 people, making 12 percent of total jobs last year. These figures are set to rise sharply as Qatar hosts the World Cup. The tournament begins on November 20. 

Latest articles

6G tech

Batelco in talks to trial 6G technology in Bahrain

Bahrain telecommunications giant Batelco is in talks to trial 6th generation (6G) connectivity as the kingdom attempts to cement its position as a technological leader in the region. The island kingdom is among the first countries to have a comprehensive 5G network coverage in most urban areas, with more than 95 percent coverage courtesy of […]

The Elmed undersea power line will run from the electrical substation at Partanna in Sicily to a substation at Mlaabi, Tunisia

Tunisia-Italy power project gets $285m investment 

The Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) has revealed plans to invest about €266 million ($285 million) to complete the Tunisian-Italian Elmed Interconnector Project, a 220km power line connecting the two countries. The investment will fund the Tunisian side of the project, which includes laying a 100km submarine power cable worth €125 million and the […]

Rain falling on paved surfaces such as roads has nowhere to go, but retrofitting roads to allow rainwater harvesting could help, some experts say

Rain harvesting could help Dubai offset a stormy future

If last week’s floods made improving drainage a necessity for Dubai, the reward might come in the form of more natural water resources, provided the emirate can boost rain harvesting efforts, industry observers tell AGBI. “The main idea for countries, especially in drier areas, is to try to reuse water as much as possible,” says […]

Art NFTs Video length: 04:13

Dubai art dealer uses NFTs for fractional art ownership

A Dubai tech startup is introducing tokenisation to the art world, after the NFT bubble burst spectacularly. 10101.art aims to make investing in art accessible to all by selling digitised fragments of works by artists including Andy Warhol, Banksy and Picasso, allowing for collective ownership of a masterpiece for as little as $100 a fragment. […]