Qatar signs deal with Accor to manage World Cup fan accommodation

Doha: Qatar has awarded Europe's largest hotel group Accor to manage apartments and villas that will house fans visiting Qatar during next year’s World Cup, the Cup's organising committee said on Thursday.

Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy said in a statement it had signed an agreement with Accor to run operations and services across its host country real estate portfolio through the end of 2022.

The decision to make full use of the Gulf Arab state's existing residential and apartments and villas will ensure that the country will have "a sustainable hotel market that does not leave Qatar with excess permanent hotel rooms post-2022," Hassan al Thawadi, who heads Qatar’s organising body was quoted as saying.