DOHA: Qatar’s tourism industry slowed in the first half of the year with the number of visits falling 4 per cent over the period, a Qatar Tourism Authority official said on Wednesday.
Qatar saw between 1.6 million and 1.7 million visits in the six months to June 30, the authority’s chief tourism development officer Hassan Al Ibrahim said at a Doha press conference.
Its biggest source market over the period was neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which increased 7 per cent to 544,000 visits.
Al Ibrahim said he expected the second half of the year to would make up for the four per cent first half decline but that Qatar’s tourism sector would not see a full recovery until 2017 or 2018.
Qatar, one of the smallest states in the Gulf, is spending billions preparing to host the Fifa World Cup in 2020. In 2015, the country saw 2.93 million visits, just shy of its target of 3 million.
Qatar announced on Wednesday that introduction of an online visa application process in the first or second quarter next year, which it hopes will boost the industry.
It is not yet known which countries will be able to apply for the online visa process. However, Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said the Ministry of Interior is to announce within weeks that Chinese, Indian and Russian passport holders will be eligible for visa on arrival. Qatar already issues visa’s on arrival to passport holders of around 38 countries.
Al Baker said the introduction of online visa applications was a “major step forward in increasing visitor arrivals to Qatar.”
Qatar plans to attract 5 million visits over the next three years, Al Ibrahim said, and the country plans to attract between 6.7 million and 7.4 million annual visitors by 2030, according to a Doha News report.
