Qatar: Over 700 hotel keys added in Q1

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Doha, Qatar: Over 700 hotel keys have been added to the market in the first quarter (Q1) of this year.

The boost in tourist arrival numbers in January and February supports the expanding hotel sector in Q1, according to a report by Cushman and Wakefield.

The supply of hotel rooms has continued to increase in Qatar over the first three months of 2023, with more than 700 keys were added to the market between January and March.

This followed an unprecedented boost in room numbers in 2022, when more than 7,000 hotel keys were delivered. The total supply in March is approximately 38,500, which reflects an increase of more than 30 percent in 15 months.

New hotels to launch in recent months include The Velero in Lusail, Mina Hotel and Residences in Doha Port, and the Grand Lux in Al Sadd, noted the released by real estate consultancy firm report.

The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has made performance indicators available for the sector. The first nine months of the year saw average occupancy fall from 63 percent
to 55 percent compared to the previous year, despite increasing tourist arrivals.

This can be explained mainly by the significant increase in supply throughout the year.

The report further stated that hotel occupancy for November and December did not see the expected increase from World Cup visitors.

While Average Daily Rates increased four-fold, November’s occupancy rate was just 56 percent, increasing to 61 percent in December.

Following a spike in hotel revenue metrics at the end of last year, PSA statistics for January and February show that Average Daily Rates returned to the levels seen in Q1, 2022. The overall Average Daily Rates for January and February were QR424 and QR433, respectively, reflecting Revenue Per Available Room (RevPARs) of QR200 and QR247.

The recent increase in supply will place pressure on occupancy rates throughout 2023.

According to the PSA data, however, there has been a substantial year-onyear rise in tourist arrivals to Qatar in January and February. Year-to-date figures indicate a 348 percent nincreasein visitor arrivals to Qatar compared to 2022, with approximately 40 percent of tourists coming from other GCC countries.

The recent rise in arrivals provides encouraging signs for growth in the tourism sector, which will be required to support the expansion of the hotel real estate market.

In addition, Qatar hopes to utilise the success of the FIFA World Cup and associated tourist infrastructure projects to increase annual visitor numbers to six million by 2030. Aiming to be one of the top hubs in business, tourism, and sports, Qatar has attracted individuals across the globe.

During the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, more than two million people visited Qatar.