Hotel apartments perform 'beyond expectations'; hospitality sector sees 41,000 keys: CWQ

The performance of hotel apartments has improved "beyond expectations" over the past year, even as the overall supply of hotel accommodation in Qatar surpassed 41,000 keys amid international visitors to the country crossing 5mn for the first time, according to Cushman and Wakefield Qatar (CWQ).

The overall supply of hotel accommodation in Qatar has now surpassed 41,000 keys, representing a 3.7% increase in supply over twelve months, CWQ said in its latest report, unveiled Wednesday.

Highlighting that supply remains dominated by luxury hotels; it said as many as 19,800 hotel rooms are classified as 5 Star, while only 3,038 hotel rooms in Qatar classified as 3 Star or below.

International visitors to Qatar surpassed 5mn for the first time last year, reflecting demand for more than 10mn hotel nights, boosting hotel occupancy rates.

Visitor arrivals reflected a 25% increase from 2023, with 41% of visitors coming from other GCC or the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, while 23% arrived from Europe.

The growth in the tourism sector underpinned improved performance metrics for hotels, with overall occupancy for the year up by 11% to 68.8%, while overall average daily rates for the industry increased 8% to QR442.

In March 2025, Qatar Tourism announced a record performance in the hotel sector in the first two months of this year. The number of hotel nights occupied in January and February reached 1.95mn, while the occupancy rate for hotels in February jumped to 81%, up from 69% in the same month last year. Over the entire quarter, the average occupancy rate was 71%, according to STR Global.

Finding that the performance of hotel apartments has improved "beyond expectations" over the past year; it said the current supply, estimated to be 9,900 units, enjoyed occupancy of 74.6% in 2024, higher than any hotel star classification. It reflected an increase of 14% from 2023.

Qatar Tourism's annual performance report for 2024 was released in the first quarter or Q1 of 2025 and provided details behind the encouraging headlines for the hotel sector that were released at the end of the year.

The pipeline of upcoming hotel supply in Doha is relatively small, which could cause performance metrics to improve further if the upward curve in tourism is sustained, according to CWQ.

The most noteworthy development proposal in Qatar's hotel sector is the Simaisma Project. On completion, the project led by the Ministry of Municipality and developed by Qatari Diar will include 16 resort hotels, a theme park, an international standard golf club, a yacht club and marina, and significant retail and restaurant provisions.