Over 40,000 hotel rooms are anticipated by 2023

Over the previous 18 months, there have been major changes in the hotel industry in Qatar, with the overall supply of rooms rising by more than 8,000.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s Q2 2023 Real Estate Market Review, which was issued yesterday at a seminar held at the Hilton Doha, the total supply of hotel rooms in Qatar has now surpassed 38,000 and is anticipated to cross 40,000 rooms by year’s end.

Johnny Archer, Director of Consulting and Research at Cushman and Wakefield, stated during the second quarterly real estate market seminar that “a considerable increase in tourist arrivals in 2023 helps boost hotel performance. In the upcoming months, a number of noteworthy properties will enter the market, including Andaz Doha, Four Seasons Resort and Residences at the Pearl Island, NH Collection Oasis Doha Hotel, Rixos Qetaifan North, Rosewood Doha, and Waldorf Astoria West Bay, which will enhance the market’s recent growth in supply.

The hospitality industry in Qatar will confront many difficulties in the coming years, including supporting the rapid expansion of related eateries as well as increasing hotel occupancy. Early indications of higher visitor numbers following the World Cup have been encouraging, but the research cautioned that these numbers will need to significantly expand over time.

The tourism industry anticipates that 2023 will be a year of recovery and improved performance after a series of challenging years brought on by COVID-19. This is undoubtedly the case in Qatar, where officials want to gain from the prominence the FIFA World Cup 2022 will bring as well as the tourism infrastructure that has been built over the past several years.

The number of tourists visiting Qatar this year has significantly increased, according to statistics issued by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA). More than 1.75 million people were counted entering the state of Qatar between January and May. This climbed by 206% from 0.58 million over the same months in 2022.

Arrivals have increased by 28% over the previous 5-month high from 2017. Over the first five months of 2023, Qatar received about 685,000 GCC visitors, primarily from Saudi Arabia. This represents 38.7% of all visitors, demonstrating the significance of the region’s diplomatic ties being repaired.

According to PSA figures, occupancy decreased somewhat between Q1 2023 and Q1 2022, from 57 percent to 54 percent, while the number of available rooms expanded significantly during this time.

Compared to 44 percent and 57 percent in April and May of last year, the occupancy rates were 47 percent and 56 percent, respectively. The whole hotel industry’s average daily rates in Q1 decreased from QR458 to QR434 year over year.

In April, it was QR444, and in May, it was QR401.

Stronger tourism demand is one of the factors cited in recent polls as a positive performance indicator. Although there were fewer visitors in April compared to March, the monthly results were still more than twice as high as in April 2022, with European visitors reaching an all-time monthly high.

In support of the non-oil recovery, Qatar welcomed approximately 1.5 million tourists overall in just four months.