Qatar’s tourism sector growing by over 147%, says UN official

Doha, Qatar: The leisure industry in Qatar continues making strides driven by global investments and state of the art infrastructure facilities. Touri...

Doha, Qatar: The leisure industry in Qatar continues making strides driven by global investments and state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities.  Tourism in Qatar has been growing by more than 147 percent, followed by countries such as Albania, El Salvador, and Saudi Arabia, an official remarked.

In an exclusive interview with The Peninsula, The UN Tourism Executive Director, Natalia Bayona (pictured), stressed that this data is “impressive” as it leads the way through emerging destinations.

“It’s impossible to talk about tourism without public and private investments,” she said, noting the international events including Web Summit Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and last year’s fifth UN Conference on Least Development Countries boosted the tourism sector and diversified its economy.

The executive, who visited the country this week for Qatar Tourism Awards 2024, emphasised that Qatar has received over $1bn Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in tourism industry  from the UAE, Thailand, and Australia among others.

She highlighted that promoting sustainable tourism is important, saying that it is one of the vital economic sectors in the world.