A section of the crowd at the Heritage Village. PICTURES: Jayan Orma
The Eid festivities organised by Qatar Tourism Authority are expected to receive more than 100,000 visitors, senior officials associated with the travel industry have told local Arabic daily Arrayah.
Further, reports in some sections of the regional media indicate that many Gulf tourists, particularly those from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, would like to spend their Eid holidays in Doha and elsewhere in the GCC instead of some of the other popular Arab cities due to security concerns.
Muataz al-Khayat, a businessman whose company has built a number of tourism and shopping facilities and hotels in Qatar, said the occupancy rate in Qatar’s hotels during last year’s Eid al-Fitr exceeded 90%. Reservation requests for this Eid could account for 100% occupancy, he added.
He said besides hotels that have come up with special offers and promotions for tourists, Qatar has a wide variety of tourist attractions such as resorts, shopping centres, Souq Waqif, parks, museums and a water park, which give tourists the opportunity to spend their holidays in a number of ways.
“GCC tourists play a vital role in further boosting the tourism sector in Qatar as they represent some 50% of the total number of tourists visiting the country,” said Mohamed Hussein al-Mulla, director-general of Al Mulla Travels and Tours, stressing that travel movement has increased by 15% as compared to last year due to the rapid development witnessed across the country in addition to international exhibitions and conferences hosted by Doha throughout the year.
Similarly, the director-general of Ali bin Ali Travel expected some airlines in the regional market to increase the number and frequency of their flights to Doha as a response to the high demand during the summer, expecting a rise by 20% in the number of travellers during Eid.
The Eid festivities have also helped boost business at various retail and service outlets, particularly those pertaining to entertainment, cosmetics, food items, clothes and gifts.
