Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Qatar’s visitor arrivals reach a five-year high in 2023

By Pramod Kumar
The Villagio shopping mall in Doha, Qatar. Visitors from Saudi Arabia, India and the UK topped the list of arrivals last year Shutterstock/Deyan Denchev
The Villagio shopping mall in Doha, Qatar. Visitors from Saudi Arabia, India and the UK topped the list of arrivals last year

Qatar received more than four million visitors in 2023, surpassing the annual visitor numbers of the previous five years.

The positive momentum follows the success of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 and the government’s efforts to bolster tourism, state-run Qatar Tourism said in a statement.

Qatar last year introduced the Hayya platform to streamline visa processes for travellers, with 95 countries granted visas on arrival.

“Qatar continues to demonstrate its appeal as a global tourism destination with its expanded tourism infrastructure, safety, and authentic Arabian hospitality,” said Saad Al Kharji, chairman of Qatar Tourism.

“New developments in Qatar’s tourism sector are ongoing, creating even further opportunities for growth,” he added.

As of 2023, Qatar’s tourism was led by visitors from Saudi Arabia, constituting 25.3 percent of international arrivals, followed by India (10.4 percent), Germany (4.1 percent), the UK (3.9 percent) and Kuwait (3.5 percent).

Nearly 85 percent of these visitors chose air travel, 14 percent opted for land routes, and just one percent arrived by sea.

Qatar enhanced its global tourism footprint with events such as the Geneva International Motor Show, which drew 180,000 visitors over 10 days. The 2023/24 cruise season also witnessed significant growth, with 81 cruises and 350,000 passengers, surpassing the previous season’s figures.

The country is set to host more than 80 events, including sports championships, cultural events, international exhibitions and summits, and shopping festivals.

Some of the major events include the AFC Asian Cup, Shop Qatar, Doha Jewellery and Exhibition, Katara International Arabian Horse Festival, Annual Qatar Economic Forum, Formula 1 Grand Prix 2024, Autonomous e-mobility Forum and Web Summit, a technology conference.

Latest articles

SJP's chief investment officer Justin Onuekwusi, second from right, at the event in Dubai. Other speakers included, from left, Ben Powell of the BlackRock Investment Institute, Angelina Lai of SJP Asia and Middle East, and Robert Willock of the Economist Intelligence Unit

Wealth manager seeks Gulf growth despite setbacks in UK

St James’s Place, the UK’s largest wealth manager, plans to target local customers to expand its one-year-old Gulf operation as it seeks to brush off reputational setbacks in its home market. In February SJP disclosed that it had set aside more than $500 million for potential client refunds after an increase in complaints about its […]

A FlyDubai Boeing 737 Max. The airline's CEO says Boeing is 'fantastic' but he has sent inspectors to the manufacturer's facilities

Boeing’s ‘negative issues’ are top concern for FlyDubai CEO

Escalating regional tensions and recent floods in Dubai have “not especially” affected FlyDubai’s operations, but the low-cost airline’s chief executive said he was closely monitoring US plane maker Boeing’s response to a string of safety scandals.  “We are definitely very concerned about the delays and all the negative issues that are in the pipeline or […]

A KFC outlet in a Dubai mall. It accounts for about two-thirds of Americana's sales, but has been hit by boycotts

Americana profit tumbles as Gaza boycotts hit sales

Americana Restaurants International’s revenue and profit fell again in the first quarter of this year as Mena diners continue to shun western brands in protest at the conflict in Gaza. Americana, which runs 2,456 fast-food outlets across the region, reported a 16.3 percent reduction in revenues year on year, to $493.5 million.  Net profit fell […]

Lucid cut the price of its flagship Air model in February by as much as 10 percent

Lucid cuts electric car prices but posts higher revenue

Saudi-backed US electric vehicle maker Lucid reported first-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates this week as it sets to produce more cars this year but selling at cheaper prices to spur sales.  The Nasdaq-listed EV company had cut prices of its flagship Air sedans in February by up to 10 percent, as customers globally began to […]