Qatar to invest $20 billion in tourism through 2022

Prepares to host the 2022 soccer World Cup

Travel News
Travel News

Qatar will invest $20 billion to $25 billion in tourism infrastructure development over the next 11 years as it prepares to host the 2022 soccer World Cup as per a Reuters report.

"This is mostly going to be in hotels, but also in parks and entertainment venues," the chairman of the Qatar Tourism Authority Ahmed Abdullah Al-Nuaimi said. The country, which currently has 10,000 hotel rooms, will add an additional 5,500 this year with plans to reach 30,000 by 2013. 5,000 new rooms will come on stream each year through 2022, he said.

"Big names are coming into the market, including four-star brands and furnished apartments. Five hotels at the Pearl will start coming in the next three years: Four Seasons, Nikki Beach Hotel, one boutique hotel. Every brand in the world will be in Doha." Other hotel projects include the $2 billion City Centre project, initially slated for launch in 2006, which will start opening this year and will house six hotels, including Shangri La and Rotana.

A cruise ship terminal will be built at Doha's new $5.5 billion deepwater seaport with capacity for two to three cruise ships that could be used to house visiting fans, Nuaimi said. "We've gotten the go-ahead for it. And we can add more if we need it, since the whole port has the facilities." The government has allocated 40 percent of its budget between now and 2016 to infrastructure projects, including $11 billion on a new international airport and a $5.5 billion on a deepwater seaport.

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