Qatar’s hotel inventory stood at 27,288 keys at the end of September 2019, spread across a total of 132 establishments, consultancy firm ValuStrat said.
Muntazah Plaza Hotel in Al Mansoura (119 keys), Swiss Belinn in Al Sadd (126 Keys) and Al Messila Resort & Spa in Al Messila (153 keys) were unveiled adding a total of 398 keys during Q3 2019.
Qatar welcomed 1.35mn visitors during the first eight months of 2019, posting an annual increase of 11%. Hotel operators continue to reduce room rates to attract more guests.
Average Daily Rate (ADR) across all star categories on average declined 5% YoY till August 2019, a result of which led to hotel occupancy increasing to 63% from 58% last year.
Qatar’s organised retail stock reached 1.89mn sq m GLA as of Q3 2019, owing to new additions of Al Waddan Mall (26,000 sq m GLA) in Mesaieed, The Galleria (44,000 sq m GLA) and Department Store (15,000 sq m GLA) in Musheireb Downtown. Countrywide monthly rents for medium line shops (less than 500 sq m) ranged from QR200 to QR380 per sq m.
While monthly asking rents for shops (26-36 sq m) ranged QR300 to QR350 per sq m in newly released Al Waddan Mall, median monthly asking rents of street retail within Doha fell marginally by 1.5% quarterly. Outside Doha rents declined 4.4% compared to Q2, 2019.
With the introduction of the first phase of single window services, the government of Qatar continues to implement policies which facilitate easy and quick set up of companies and factories, ValuStrat noted.
Moreover, government waived ground rents for production factories in SME Zone and Mesaieed Industrial Zone of Manateq for 2019. Average asking rents for dry storage remained unchanged quarterly and reduced 7% annually, indicating the rate of decline has notably slowed down.