Tourism Tops Qatar World Cup Reforms and Benefits

The Middle East is soon to witness the biggest ever event to be hosted one of its
own, 2022 FIFA World Cup. The sector that is expected to benefit the most
through the international tournament is tourism and hospitality. Qatar’s tourism
and tourism technology industry is banking on this once in a lifetime
opportunity to turn the face of Qatar upside down. Together with the Qatar
World Cup reforms, the country is all set to capitalize on the golden opportunity
of making Qatar as well as the Middle East a tourism hub the world was yet to
discover.
The founder of a Qatar-based tourism technology platform called Turismo,
Nada Farouk cited her belief in the World Cup being an opportunity that will
prove lucrative for Qatar and the entire region.
She said in one of her statements, “The World Cup is a golden opportunity to be
exploited. If we as a tourism tech, tourism companies, and even the government
through Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) collaborates to take
advantage of the opportunity, it would be a turning point in Qatar’s history.”
With Qatar World Cup reforms building and expanding the country’s
infrastructure in a futuristic way, attendance of millions of football fans is a
certainty. From an eco-friendly, floating, rotating hotel that generates its own
electricity, a sustainable stadium made out of shipping containers, to stadium
using treated sewage water during the making, Qatar World Cup reforms made
sustainable measures the heart of the preparations for the FIFA 2022
tournament.
However, more than the infrastructure, Qatar’s willingness to step outside its
comfort zone culturally proved to be the biggest steps made to guarantee
visitors flocking to Qatar from around the world in large numbers. As part of
the Qatar World Cup reforms, the tournament will be witnessing some of the
rarest views in Qatar, which includes alcohol at the stadiums and fans from the
LGBTQ+ community waving the rainbow flags from the stands.
As per estimates drawn from a forecast of the economic contribution, the travel
and tourism industry is set lend about QR200 billion in Qatar’s GDP by 2028.
With the numerous Qatar World Cup reforms in works, the country will not
only become a hub for tourism, but also global sporting events. The estimates
drawn by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the tourism sector in
2019 contributed to about 10.3% the global GDP along with about 330 million
employments.
The same estimation predicted that Doha will receive fastest-growing tourists
between 2018 and 2025, with a further increase in their arrivals to reach 104%
during that period, making it reach 4.5 million from a 2.2 million.