Qatar's tourism sector has seen great growth recently with a surge in visitors from the GCC region
In an effort to streamline procedures and regulations in Qatar’s tourism sector, Saad bin Ali bin Saad Al Kharji, chairman of Qatar Tourism, revealed that numerous plans are underway to develop the Hayya Card. Qatar previously introduced Hayya Card during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, allowing people from all over the world to enter the country. Since then, the pass has been extended until February this year.
Addressing the Qatar Chamber meeting, Al Kharji also highlighted the tourism sector’s significant development and its pivotal role in the country’s economic diversification strategy under the National Vision 2030. Alongside developing the Hayya Card, Qatar Tourism is developing plans and strategies to resolve obstacles facing the sector.
Private sector empowerment
During the meeting, Al Kharji stresses the importance of supporting and empowering Qatar’s private sector to drive tourism forward. The meeting discussed significant challenges facing business owners and investors in the private sector. Hence, the chamber seeks to ensure that the tourism sector fulfills its role in the state’s development. Therefore, it reiterated its commitment to supporting and addressing the challenges facing the private sector through cooperation with relevant private and public sector bodies.
Both the chamber’s tourism committee and Qatar Tourism agreed to collaboratively work on two focal points — the hotel sector and the travel office sector. Both parties also committed to holding regular meetings with the private sector to identify challenges and address them.
Despite persistent challenges, Qatar’s tourism sector has seen great growth recently with a surge in visitors from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. In its efforts to achieve its goal of six million tourists by 2030 under its national strategy, the country commits to continuously adopting measures and strategies such as the Hayya Card that support the tourism sector.