Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated
155 Qatar Tourism Statistics for 2026
Qatar received 5.1 million international visitors in 2025, 3.7% more than in 2024, and its hotels and hotel apartments sold 10.84 million room nights at an average occupancy of 71.3%. Most visitors come from the Gulf, and the winter months are the busiest.
Qatar Tourism counted approximately 2.338 million visitors from January to August 2026, a period it says brought disruption to travel. No Qatar Tourism performance report for 2026 had been published by early November.
This page gathers the official figures in one place: visitors and where they come from, how they arrive, hotels, the seasons, cruises, the 2022 World Cup, what tourism is worth and the 2030 targets, museums, events, transport, weather and safety. Every number links to the body that published it, with the date. Where two bodies measure the same thing in different ways, both are named and they are not combined.
Headline figures
- Qatar received 5.1 million international visitors in 2025, up 3.7% on 2024. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- More than 674,000 visitors arrived in December 2025, up nearly 16%, in a month that included the FIFA Arab Cup. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- Hotels and hotel apartments in Qatar sold 10.84 million room nights in 2025, up 8.6% on 2024. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- Full-market occupancy averaged 71.3% in 2025, up 2.6 percentage points on 2024. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- Accommodation revenue in Qatar reached QAR 8.3 billion in 2025, up 12%. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- Visitors from GCC countries made up 35% of Qatar's international arrivals in 2025. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- Qatar received approximately 2.338 million visitors from January to August 2026, a period Qatar Tourism says brought disruption to travel. (Qatar Tourism (World Tourism Day statement), Sep 2026)
- Qatar Tourism says the tourism sector as a whole contributed QAR 55 billion to GDP in 2024, an estimated 8% of the economy. (Qatar Tourism (H1 2025 release), Sep 2025)
- On the narrower direct measure, tourism made up 2.86% of Qatar's GDP in 2022, a provisional estimate. (NPC (SDG 8.9.1 tourism direct GDP), Aug 2026)
- Hamad International Airport served 54.3 million passengers in 2025, up 3% on 2024. (Hamad International Airport (2025 results), Jan 2026)
- Passengers travelling to and from Doha through Hamad International reached 13.5 million in 2025, up 5.4%. (Hamad International Airport (2025 results), Jan 2026)
- Non-residents spent QAR 32.2 billion on travel in Qatar in 2023, on the balance-of-payments measure. (NPC (balance of payments 2019-2023), May 2025)
- The National Museum of Qatar recorded 487,383 visits in 2024. (Qatar Museums (open data 2024), Nov 2025)
- Qatar's 2024/25 cruise season brought over 360,000 cruise visitors, up 4%. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release), May 2025)
How many tourists visit Qatar each year?
More each year from the 2022 World Cup to 2025. Qatar Tourism counts international visitor arrivals at air, land and sea borders. Arrivals rose by about a quarter in 2024 and more slowly in 2025. For 2026, Qatar Tourism reports disruption to travel.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 4.91m |
| 2025 | 5.1m |
- International visitors reached 4.91 million in 2024, up 26% on 2023. (Qatar Tourism (2024 annual report), Jan 2026)
- Qatar received more than 2.6 million international visitors from January to June 2025, 3% more than a year earlier. (Qatar Tourism (H1 2025 release), Sep 2025)
- International visitors reached 1.5 million in the first quarter of 2025, 7% fewer than in the first quarter of 2024, when Qatar hosted the AFC Asian Cup in January and February. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 report), Apr 2025)
- International arrivals in the first half of 2023 passed two million, double the pre-pandemic level of 1,053k in the first half of 2019. (Qatar Tourism (H1 2023 release), Jul 2023)
- By 25 August 2023 Qatar had welcomed over 2.56 million visitors, more than in the whole of 2022 and 157% more than in the same period of 2022. (Qatar Tourism (World Cup legacy release), Sep 2023)
- About 500 charter flights carried 130,000 passengers to Qatar in 2025, mainly from CIS and European markets. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- The Hayya visa platform handled nearly one million e-visa applications in 2025. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- Hayya processed more than two million e-visa applications from 2023 to late 2025, an average of more than 60,000 a month since April 2023. (Qatar Tourism (Hayya release), Dec 2025)
- Qatar Tourism collected more than 50,000 international visitor surveys in 2025. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
Visitor arrivals count trips across air, land and sea borders, so a visitor who enters twice is counted twice. Qatar Tourism has published different totals for 2024 at different times; this page uses only its latest annual report, issued in January 2026, for 2024 and for every visitor series. The 2026 figure is Qatar Tourism's own; later 2026 figures carried only by news agencies are left out. Hayya figures count e-visa applications, not visas issued or arrivals.
Where do Qatar's visitors come from?
Mostly from the Gulf, led by Saudi Arabia, with Europe second. The GCC share fell between 2024 and 2025 as visitors from further away grew. Qatar Tourism publishes shares by world region each year; its latest shares by country are for 2023.
- Europe supplied 25% of Qatar's international visitors in 2025, the rest of Asia and Oceania 22%, other Arab countries 8%, the Americas 7% and the rest of Africa 3%. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- In 2024 GCC visitors were 39% of arrivals, Europe 24%, the rest of Asia and Oceania 21%, other Arab countries 8%, the Americas 6% and the rest of Africa 2%. (Qatar Tourism (2024 annual report), Jan 2026)
- In the first half of 2025 GCC visitors made up 36% of arrivals, Europe 26%, Asia and Oceania 22%, and the Americas and other Arab countries 7% each. (Qatar Tourism (H1 2025 release), Sep 2025)
- Saudi Arabia supplied 25.3% of Qatar's international arrivals in 2023 to late December, India 10.4%, Germany 4.1%, the UK 3.9% and Kuwait 3.5%. (Qatar Tourism (4 million visitors release), Dec 2023)
- Qatar's top 10 markets in 2023 up to 25 August were Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, the USA, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, the UK, the UAE and Pakistan. (Qatar Tourism (World Cup legacy release), Sep 2023)
- GCC visitor arrivals jumped to 229,158 in November 2024, from 103,694 in October. Arrivals from Europe reached 124,125 in November. (NPC (visitor arrivals by region), Nov 2026)
- Of 452,559 nationals of other GCC countries arriving at Qatar's borders in the fourth quarter of 2023, 359,599 came by land. These border counts include residents. (NPC (arrivals by port of entry), Apr 2026)
Regional shares are of international visitor arrivals, and the world regions are Qatar Tourism's own groupings. The 2023 country shares cover the year to late December. The NPC border counts cover everyone arriving, including residents and returning Qataris, so they are not visitor numbers, and the NPC monthly regional series covers only June to November 2024.
How do visitors travel to Qatar?
By air, mostly. About a third cross the land border, and a small share arrive by sea, almost all of them in the winter cruise season. The air share grew between 2024 and 2025.
- Air 61%
- Land 32%
- Sea 7%
- 61% of visitors arrived by air in 2025, 32% by land and 7% by sea. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- In 2024, 57% of visitors arrived by air, 36% by land and 7% by sea. (Qatar Tourism (2024 annual report), Jan 2026)
- In the first half of 2025, air carried 57% of arrivals, land 33% and sea 9%. (Qatar Tourism (H1 2025 release), Sep 2025)
- Sea arrivals were 15% of the total in the first quarter of 2025, with air at 51% and land at 34%. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release), May 2025)
- In November 2024, 280,402 visitors arrived by air, 208,687 by land and 31,479 by sea. Sea arrivals were between 1,464 and 1,921 a month from June to October 2024. (NPC (visitor arrivals by mode of entry), Nov 2026)
Shares are of international visitor arrivals as Qatar Tourism reports them for each period. Sea arrivals include cruise passengers, whose season runs through the winter. NPC monthly figures by mode are published for June to November 2024 only.
How busy is Hamad International Airport?
Very busy, mostly with passengers changing planes. Hamad International is a hub for connecting flights, and the airport reports passengers travelling to and from Doha separately from its total.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Jan | 4.74m |
| Feb | 4.19m |
| Mar | 4.06m |
| Apr | 4.50m |
| May | 4.20m |
| Jun | 4.17m |
| Jul | 4.81m |
| Aug | 5.02m |
| Sep | 4.48m |
- Hamad International handled 282,975 aircraft movements in 2025, up 1%, and 2.59 million tonnes of cargo. (Hamad International Airport (2025 results), Jan 2026)
- The airport's on-time performance was 85% in 2025. (Hamad International Airport (2025 results), Jan 2026)
- July to September 2025 was the airport's busiest quarter yet, with over 14.3 million passengers, up 4.3%. Airlines at the airport averaged an 84.1% seat load factor. (Hamad International Airport (Q3 2025 results), Nov 2025)
- August 2025 was the airport's first month with more than 5 million passengers: 5,017,475. (Hamad International Airport (Q3 2025 results), Nov 2025)
- The airport served 25.9 million passengers in the first half of 2025, 0.45% fewer than a year earlier, while point-to-point traffic to Doha rose 2.3%. (Hamad International Airport (H1 2025 results), Jul 2025)
- Hamad International served 52.7 million passengers in 2024, up 15%, and handled over 12 million point-to-point passengers. (Hamad International Airport (2024 results), Jan 2025)
- Local passenger traffic grew 16% in 2024, for the first time faster than transfer traffic, the airport says. It served 197 destinations with 55 airlines. (Hamad International Airport (2024 results), Jan 2025)
- In 2023 the airport served 45,916,104 passengers, up 31% on 2022, with 252,059 aircraft movements and 2,340,711 tons of cargo. (Hamad International Airport (2023 results), Jan 2024)
- Concourses D and E opened in March 2025, raising the airport's capacity to over 65 million passengers a year, with 62 contact gates and a terminal of 845,000 square metres. (Hamad International Airport (Concourses D and E), Mar 2025)
- On 17 March 2026 the airport withdrew from all external exhibitions, conferences, industry events and awards programmes, in light of what it called the ongoing conflict in the region. (Hamad International Airport (industry statement), Mar 2026)
- Qatar's Third National Development Strategy cites over 20 million passengers through Hamad International in the first half of 2023. (NPC (Third National Development Strategy), Jan 2024)
Airport passengers count arrivals, departures and transfers, so they are not visitor numbers. Point-to-point passengers, which the airport describes as passengers travelling to and from Doha, include residents. The airport's busiest quarter in 2025 was July to September, while Qatar's visitor arrivals peak in winter. No 2026 traffic figures had been published on the airport's press page by early November.
How full are Qatar's hotels and what do they cost?
Occupancy has risen each year since 2023. Budget hotels and hotel apartments run fuller than five-star hotels, and room rates rose again in 2025.
- Full-market occupancy was 68.7% in 2024, as restated in Qatar Tourism's 2025 report. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- In 2025 five-star hotels averaged 65.6% occupancy (63.6% in 2024), four-star 69.0% (69.0%), one- to three-star 85.4% (84.7%) and hotel apartments 80.9% (74.5%). (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- The full-market average daily rate was QAR 457.1 in 2025, up 3.6%, and revenue per available room QAR 325.9, up 7.6%. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- Room revenue grew 12.5% in 2025, food and beverage revenue 10.3% and other revenue 14.3%. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- In 2024 the average daily rate was QAR 442, up 8%, and revenue per available room QAR 304, up 29%. (Qatar Tourism (2024 annual report), Jan 2026)
- Room demand reached 10m room nights sold in 2024, 23% more than in 2023. (Qatar Tourism (2024 annual report), Jan 2026)
- Hotels averaged 71% occupancy in the first half of 2025, up 2 percentage points, and sold 5.23 million room nights, up 7%. (Qatar Tourism (H1 2025 release), Sep 2025)
- Occupancy in the first quarter of 2025 was 4 percentage points below an especially strong first quarter of 2024. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 report), Apr 2025)
- From January to September 2025 occupancy averaged 68.2%, up 2.4 percentage points, and the average daily rate was QAR 427, down 1.2%. (Qatar Tourism (Q3 2025 report), Oct 2025)
- Guests stayed an average of 3.5 nights in Qatar's accommodation in 2025. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- The average stay was 3.6 nights in 2024. (Qatar Tourism (2024 annual report), Jan 2026)
Full market covers hotels, hotel apartments and touristic camps, from Qatar Tourism and STR data. Different Qatar Tourism documents give slightly different occupancy rates for 2024; this page uses only the figure printed in the 2025 annual report. Revenue is accommodation revenue only, not total visitor spending. Average stay is per accommodation stay, not per trip, and covers only guests in accommodation.
How many hotels and rooms does Qatar have?
Over 40,000 rooms, and the number keeps growing. Five-star hotels hold the largest share. Qatar Tourism and the National Planning Council count hotels on different bases, so their totals differ and are not compared.
- At December 2025 Qatar had 42,469 hotel and hotel-apartment keys: 20,789 in five-star hotels, 8,139 in four-star, 2,977 in one- to three-star hotels and 10,564 in hotel apartments. (Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report), Jan 2026)
- Supply grew 4.5% in 2025 to over 42,500 keys. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- Hotel supply reached 40,405 room keys by the end of 2024. (Qatar Tourism (2024 annual report), Jan 2026)
- Supply rose to 40,787 room keys by the end of March 2025. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 report), Apr 2025)
- Supply reached 41,733 room keys by the end of September 2025. (Qatar Tourism (Q3 2025 report), Oct 2025)
- Qatar Tourism's monthly accommodation survey tracked 199 properties with 40,461 rooms in December 2024, against 74 properties with 17,370 rooms in December 2014. (Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data), May 2025)
- By March 2025 the survey tracked 202 properties with 40,855 rooms. (Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data), May 2025)
- NPC counted 77 five-star hotels in 2023, 39 four-star, 21 three-star and 10 two- and one-star hotels. In 2019 there were 49 five-star hotels. (NPC (hotels by class), Apr 2026)
- Classified hotels had 20,964 five-star rooms in 2023, 8,440 four-star, 2,281 three-star and 586 two- and one-star rooms. There were 12,980 five-star rooms in 2019. (NPC (hotel rooms by class), Apr 2026)
- Five-star hotels had 27,286 beds in 2023, four-star hotels 11,929, three-star 3,645 and two- and one-star 928. (NPC (hotel beds by class), Apr 2026)
- In 2015 Qatar had 33 five-star hotels with 9,196 rooms, 24 four-star hotels with 7,326 rooms and 28 three-star hotels with 2,336 rooms. (NPC (hotels, rooms and beds by type), Oct 2026)
- Doha municipality had 131 hotels and 35 hotel-apartment buildings in 2024. Al-Daayen had 10 hotels, Al-Rayyan 7 and Al-Wakrah 4. (NPC (hotels by municipality), Aug 2026)
Qatar Tourism counts room keys in hotels and hotel apartments; its monthly survey counts the properties and rooms it tracks, which is close to but not the same as the keys in its reports. NPC's class tables cover classified hotels only and exclude hotel apartments, and its municipality table uses another basis again. The bases are not mixed, added or compared.
When is Qatar busiest?
From November to February. Hotel occupancy and room rates peak in the cooler months and during big winter events, and fall in the summer heat.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Jan | 84.0% |
| Feb | 85.4% |
| Mar | 56.1% |
| Apr | 62.4% |
| May | 65.3% |
| Jun | 59.7% |
| Jul | 58.6% |
| Aug | 60.2% |
| Sep | 63.4% |
| Oct | 69.8% |
| Nov | 83.3% |
| Dec | 78.4% |
- Full-market hotel occupancy in Qatar was 84.0% in January 2024 and 85.4% in February, against 56.1% in March, when Ramadan began. (Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data), May 2025)
- Occupancy stayed between 58.6% and 65.3% from May to September 2024, then rose to 69.8% in October, 83.3% in November and 78.4% in December. (Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data), May 2025)
- The full-market average daily rate was QAR 531.49 in February 2024 and QAR 377.64 in July 2024. (Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data), May 2025)
- Eid Al Fitr 2025 brought 214,000 visitors over the eight-day holiday, 26% more than in 2024 and the most holiday arrivals in three years. GCC visitors were 49% of them, and hotel occupancy reached 77%. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release), May 2025)
Ramadan fell in March in 2025 and from mid-March to early April in 2024; Qatar hosted the AFC Asian Cup in January and February 2024 and the FIFA Arab Cup in December 2025.
How many cruise passengers visit Qatar?
A few hundred thousand each winter season, with Germans the largest group. Cruise visitors grew every season from 2021/22 to 2024/25, but fewer calls were scheduled for 2025/26.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 100.5k |
| 2022/23 | 253.2k |
| 2023/24 | over 347k |
| 2024/25 | over 360k |
- The 2024/25 season had 87 ship calls, up 19%, including five maiden calls and 13 homeporting calls. Over 10% of cruise visitors were turnaround passengers. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release), May 2025)
- By 20 January 2025, midway through the season, 191,944 cruise passengers had arrived on 53 ships, including 20,951 turnaround passengers. Germans were 30.2% of them, Russians 10.8% and Italians 9.2%. (Qatar Tourism (mid-season cruise release), Feb 2025)
- The 2023/24 season saw 73 cruise ships and over 347,000 visitors. (Qatar Tourism (2024/25 cruise launch), Nov 2024)
- The 2022/23 season, from December 2022 to March 2023, brought 253,191 cruise visitors on 54 calls, 151% more than the 100,500 of 2021/22. 37,144 of them were turnaround passengers. (Qatar Tourism (2022/23 cruise release), Jul 2023)
- Germans made up 31% of cruise visitors in 2022/23, Italians 10%, Russians 6% and Britons 3%. (Qatar Tourism (2022/23 cruise release), Jul 2023)
- Doha Port can berth two megaships at a time and handle up to 12,000 people a day. (Qatar Tourism (2022/23 cruise release), Jul 2023)
- The 2025/26 season was expected to deliver 72 cruise calls. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- Qatar Tourism said sea arrivals fell after winter cruise ship cancellations due to heightened regional tensions. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
Cruise seasons run through the winter. Turnaround passengers start or end their cruise in Doha. The 2022/23 season started late because Doha Port hosted floating hotels during the World Cup. The 2025/26 figure is a schedule, not a result, and no outturn had been published by November 2026.
What did the 2022 World Cup do to tourism?
It filled stadiums and fan zones and pushed hotel rates far above their usual level in November and December 2022. Visitor numbers in the following years were much higher than before the tournament.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Nov 2022 | 1,839 |
| Dec 2022 | 2,104 |
| Dec 2023 | 426 |
- Less than two weeks into the tournament, Qatar Tourism reported over 600,000 visitors in November 2022. Saudi Arabia supplied 16% of international arrivals, India 8%, the USA 7%, the UK 6% and Mexico 5%. (Qatar Tourism (World Cup visitors release), 2022)
- Cumulative stadium attendance passed 3.4 million spectators, at an average of 96.3% of capacity. (FIFA (Annual Report 2022), 2023)
- The FIFA Fan Festival at Al Bidda Park in Doha drew more than 1.8 million fans. (FIFA (Annual Report 2022), 2023)
- Hayya received over 2.4 million applications during the World Cup, and at its peak 49,155 visitor entries were processed in 24 hours. (Qatar Tourism (Hayya release), Dec 2025)
- In December 2022 the full-market average daily rate in Qatar was QAR 2,103.59, while occupancy was 59.7%. (Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data), May 2025)
- In November 2022 the full-market average daily rate was QAR 1,839.25. (Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data), May 2025)
- Five-star hotels averaged QAR 3,081.65 a night in December 2022, against QAR 605.29 in December 2023. (Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data), May 2025)
- Travel receipts in the balance of payments were QAR 11.6 billion in October to December 2022, against QAR 4.5 billion in January to March 2022. (NPC (quarterly balance of payments), Jul 2026)
The World Cup ran from 20 November to 18 December 2022. Hotel rates are Qatar Tourism's monthly full-market figures from its accommodation survey. Qatar Tourism's November 2022 visitor figure was an early count part-way through the month. Stadium and fan festival figures are FIFA's own and count attendances, not unique people. Hayya counts applications, not people.
What is tourism worth to Qatar's economy?
It depends on the measure. The National Planning Council's direct tourism GDP share counts only the value added by industries serving visitors directly. Qatar Tourism's figure for the sector as a whole is a wider total contribution. They are different measures and are not compared.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 1.82% |
| 2014 | 2.06% |
| 2015 | 3.11% |
| 2016 | 3.85% |
| 2017 | 3.45% |
| 2018 | 3.17% |
| 2019 | 3.27% |
| 2020 | 1.98% |
| 2021 | 2.32% |
| 2022 | 2.86% |
- The direct tourism share of GDP was 3.27% in 2019, 1.98% in 2020 and 2.32% in 2021. (NPC (SDG 8.9.1 tourism direct GDP), Aug 2026)
- In the direct series, which starts at 1.82% in 2013, the share was 3.85% in 2016. (NPC (SDG 8.9.1 tourism direct GDP), Aug 2026)
- Qatar Tourism says the sector's total contribution in 2024 was up 14% on 2023. (Qatar Tourism (H1 2025 release), Sep 2025)
- Accommodation and food service activities added QAR 9.0 billion to Qatar's GDP at current prices in 2024, out of total GDP of QAR 795.2 billion. (NPC (GDP by economic activity), Aug 2026)
- The value added by accommodation and food service activities was QAR 5,716.1 million in 2020, QAR 8,606.4 million in 2022 and QAR 8,380.1 million in 2023. (NPC (GDP by economic activity), Aug 2026)
- 72,519 men and 22,180 women worked in accommodation and food service activities in Qatar in 2023. (NPC (Labour Force Survey), Jun 2026)
- Men in accommodation and food service worked 50 hours a week on average in 2023, and women 41. (NPC (Labour Force Survey), Jun 2026)
Tourism direct GDP (UN SDG indicator 8.9.1) is the narrow measure; NPC says the uploaded figures are provisional estimates from Qatar Tourism and Oxford Economics. Qatar Tourism's total-contribution figure describes the tourism sector as a whole, a wider measure whose method is not published. The two are different measures and are never set side by side as one series. The industry figures for accommodation and food service cover all customers, including residents eating out, so they are not tourism GDP. No official count of tourism jobs was found.
How much do visitors spend in Qatar?
Tens of billions of riyals a year on the balance-of-payments measure, whose latest published year is 2023. Residents of Qatar spend more on travel abroad than visitors spend in Qatar.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 19.8bn |
| 2020 | 13.0bn |
| 2021 | 15.5bn |
| 2022 | 26.4bn |
| 2023 | 32.2bn |
- Travel receipts were QAR 26.4 billion in 2022 and QAR 19.8 billion in 2019. (NPC (balance of payments 2019-2023), May 2025)
- Travel receipts were QAR 12,969 million in 2020 and QAR 15,519 million in 2021. (NPC (balance of payments 2019-2023), May 2025)
- Residents of Qatar spent QAR 60.0 billion on travel abroad in 2023. (NPC (balance of payments 2019-2023), May 2025)
- Quarterly travel receipts were QAR 8.1 billion in July to September 2023 and QAR 9.4 billion in October to December 2023. (NPC (quarterly balance of payments), Jul 2026)
Travel receipts (credits) are spending in Qatar by non-residents and travel payments (debits) are residents' spending abroad, compiled from Qatar Central Bank balance-of-payments data. Figures for 2024 and 2025 were not available. Travel receipts are a different measure from the in-destination spending in Qatar's 2030 targets.
What are Qatar's tourism targets for 2030?
A national target set in the development strategy, and wider aims of Qatar Tourism's own. These are targets, not forecasts.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 10m |
| 2025 | 10.84m |
| 2030 target | up to 19m |
- The Third National Development Strategy (2024-2030) sets 2030 targets of 6 million visitors, QAR 34 billion of total in-destination spending and up to 19 million total room nights. (NPC (Third National Development Strategy), Jan 2024)
- Qatar Tourism aims to nearly triple visitor numbers between 2022 and 2030, at least double in-destination tourism spending and raise tourism's total contribution to GDP to 10-12%. (Qatar Tourism (2030 aims, Dec 2024), Dec 2024)
- In 2021 Qatar Tourism set a goal of more than six million visitors a year by 2030. (Qatar Tourism (2021 campaign release), 2021)
All 2030 figures are targets. The national strategy's room-night target is a ceiling ("up to"), and its spending measure is not defined in the same way as the balance-of-payments travel receipts. Qatar Tourism's own aims were stated by its chairman and differ from the national targets.
What are Qatar's most visited museums and attractions?
The National Museum of Qatar and the Museum of Islamic Art, on Qatar Museums' own counts. Indoor museums stay busy through the summer, while outdoor heritage sites empty in the heat.
- Qatar Museums venues recorded more than 1.2 million visits in 2024, including more than 930,000 museum visits, 82,200 at creative hubs and 42,600 at heritage sites. (Qatar Museums (open data 2024), Nov 2025)
- The Museum of Islamic Art received 314,462 visits in 2024. (Qatar Museums (open data 2024), Nov 2025)
- The 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum had 100,495 visits in 2024. (Qatar Museums (open data 2024), Nov 2025)
- Al Zubarah, Qatar's UNESCO World Heritage Site, recorded 40,055 visits in 2024: 7,079 in February but 763 in July. (Qatar Museums (open data 2024), Nov 2025)
- Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art had 20,994 visits in 2024, the Fire Station creative hub 52,102, M7 28,119, Dadu Children's Museum Gardens 8,855 and Barzan Tower 3,055. (Qatar Museums (open data 2024), Nov 2025)
- The National Museum of Qatar's busiest month in 2024 was December, with 60,691 visits, and its quietest was March, with 25,319. (Qatar Museums (open data 2024), Nov 2025)
- Pipilotti Rist: "Your Brain to Me, My Brain to You" at the National Museum of Qatar recorded 325,180 visits from March 2022 to April 2024. (Qatar Museums (exhibition data), Jun 2025)
- Making Doha: 1950-2030, the National Museum's opening exhibition, drew 268,036 visits from March to August 2019. (Qatar Museums (exhibition data), Jun 2025)
- Splendours of the Atlas at the Museum of Islamic Art drew 96,940 visits from November 2024 to March 2025. (Qatar Museums (exhibition data), Jun 2025)
- Qatar's cinemas sold 3.54 million admissions in 2023, across 167 cinema halls with 38,210 seats. (NPC (cinema statistics), May 2025)
Visits count entries, so repeat visits and residents are included. Qatar Museums' figures cover its own venues only, not Msheireb Museums, Katara or private museums. No 2025 venue figures had been published by November 2026. Exhibition totals cover each show's whole run. Cinema admissions include residents.
How big are Qatar's events and festivals?
Big enough to lift the monthly visitor count. Winter festivals and motor racing draw tens or hundreds of thousands each, and business events bring international visitors all year.
- More than one million international business visitors attended business events in Qatar in 2025, and Qatar secured 14 international bids for events in 2026 and 2027. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- Hayya supported over 1.1 million ticket scans during the FIFA Arab Cup in December 2025. (Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report), Jan 2026)
- The 2025 Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix at Lusail International Circuit welcomed 162,972 attendees over three days, from 28 to 30 November. (Lusail International Circuit, Nov 2025)
- The Qatar International Food Festival 2025 brought together more than 365,000 visitors and 180 restaurants, including 28 international outlets. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release), May 2025)
- Shop Qatar 2025 generated QAR 120 million in sales, up 50% year on year. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release), May 2025)
- The Throwback Food Festival welcomed over 100,000 people to Old Doha Port, and Visit Qatar's Ras Abrouq desert activation drew 55,000 visitors over 60 days. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release), May 2025)
- Sealine Village attracted over 48,000 attendees, and the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition 2025 nearly 30,000 visitors and over 500 brands. (Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release), May 2025)
- Qatar Toy Festival 2025 attracted over 130,000 visitors in 30 days to 4 August 2025, beating the attendance of earlier editions by 12%. (Qatar Tourism (Toy Festival release), Aug 2025)
- Katara Cultural Village held 103 talent-development events and 76 seminars, lectures and conferences in 2023. In 2022 it staged 283 visual-arts events and 66 festivals. (NPC (Katara cultural events), May 2025)
Attendance counts entries and includes residents. Festival figures are the organisers' own. Qatar Tourism does not define business visitors, so they may overlap with total arrivals. Figures for the FIFA Arab Cup and other events carried only by news agencies are left out.
How do visitors get around Qatar?
By road and on the Doha Metro, which carries more passengers than the public buses. December 2025, the month of the FIFA Arab Cup, was a busy month.
- The Doha Metro carried 7,375,367 passengers in December 2025. (Ministry of Transport (public transport users), Oct 2026)
- Public buses carried 3,975,902 passengers and the Lusail Tram 369,661 in December 2025. (Ministry of Transport (public transport users), Oct 2026)
- In January 2025 the metro carried 5,137,418 passengers, buses 3,308,813 and the tram 291,031. (Ministry of Transport (public transport users), Oct 2026)
- In November 2025 the metro carried 5,874,617 passengers, buses 3,767,357 and the tram 352,859. (Ministry of Transport (public transport users), Oct 2026)
The ministry counts users, meaning boardings, so one person making several trips is counted each time, and residents and visitors are counted together. Its monthly series runs from January 2024 to February 2026. Annual totals are not published in this dataset, so none are given here.
What is the weather like in Qatar?
Mild from December to March and very hot from May to October. The figures below are monthly averages at the Doha airport weather station in 2024, the latest full year published.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Jan | 25.1 |
| Feb | 24.2 |
| Mar | 26.4 |
| Apr | 32.2 |
| May | 37.8 |
| Jun | 42.2 |
| Jul | 43.2 |
| Aug | 39.7 |
| Sep | 38.6 |
| Oct | 34.6 |
| Nov | 30.7 |
| Dec | 24.4 |
- In January 2024 the average daily maximum at Doha airport was 25.1°C and the minimum 18.3°C; in February it was 24.2°C and 17.6°C. (NPC (monthly weather data, Doha airport), Nov 2026)
- June 2024 averaged a 42.2°C daily maximum and a 32.0°C minimum, and August 39.7°C and 33.4°C. (NPC (monthly weather data, Doha airport), Nov 2026)
- March 2024 averaged a 26.4°C maximum and April 32.2°C; October averaged 34.6°C, November 30.7°C and December 24.4°C. (NPC (monthly weather data, Doha airport), Nov 2026)
- Average relative humidity at the airport was 35% in July 2024 and 39% in June, against 63% in January and 64% in November. (NPC (monthly weather data, Doha airport), Nov 2026)
- July 2024 was the hottest month of that year, with an average daily maximum of 43.2°C and minimum of 34.3°C. (NPC (climate indicators), Nov 2026)
- The airport station recorded 30.7 mm of rain in 2024, against 145.5 mm in 2023 and 11.0 mm in 2021. (Civil Aviation Authority (precipitation data), Sep 2026)
These are single-year monthly averages for 2024 at the airport weather station, not 30-year climate normals.
How safe is Qatar for visitors?
The official figures cover road safety and court cases. Road deaths fell between 2014 and 2024, and the largest groups of court cases are for residency, cheque and traffic offences.
View data table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 238 |
| 2020 | 138 |
| 2022 | 222 |
| 2024 | 140 |
- Road traffic accidents killed 140 people in Qatar in 2024, against 238 in 2014. (NPC (traffic deaths and injuries), Oct 2026)
- There were 434 serious and 11,081 slight road injuries in 2024. (NPC (traffic deaths and injuries), Oct 2026)
- Road deaths were 222 in 2022, the World Cup year, and 138 in 2020. (NPC (traffic deaths and injuries), Oct 2026)
- The road traffic death rate was 7.3 per 100,000 population in 2021. (NPC (SDG 3.6.1 road traffic deaths), Jul 2026)
- Of misdemeanour cases raised in Qatar's courts in 2024, 37,596 were for immigration and residency violations, 32,940 for bounced cheques and 30,355 for traffic violations. (NPC (court cases), Sep 2026)
- Courts received 747 criminal cases for crimes against property and 412 for crimes against the person in 2024. (NPC (court cases), Sep 2026)
Road figures cover everyone in Qatar, residents and visitors. Court cases are cases raised, not police-recorded crime, and their counts swing widely from year to year. No police-recorded crime series is published on the open data portal.
Glossary
- Qatar Tourism
- The national tourism authority, which publishes visitor arrivals and accommodation performance reports. Visit Qatar is its consumer brand.
- NPC
- The National Planning Council, formerly the Planning and Statistics Authority, which publishes national statistics on the Qatar Open Data portal and the national development strategy.
- NDS3
- The Third National Development Strategy 2024-2030, which sets Qatar's national tourism targets.
- Hayya
- Qatar's e-visa and entry platform, run by Qatar Tourism.
- HIA
- Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar's main airport.
- Point-to-point passengers
- Airport passengers travelling to or from Doha, as opposed to transfer passengers who change planes there.
- GCC
- Gulf Cooperation Council: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
- Full market
- Qatar Tourism's accommodation total: hotels, hotel apartments and touristic camps.
- ADR
- Average daily rate, the average price paid for a room per night.
- RevPAR
- Revenue per available room, room revenue divided by all rooms available, sold or not.
- STR
- A hotel data company whose survey Qatar Tourism uses for accommodation figures.
- Business events (MICE)
- Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.
- SDG 8.9.1
- The UN indicator for tourism direct GDP as a share of total GDP.
- QAR
- The Qatari riyal.
Methodology and sources
Figures come from official bodies: Qatar Tourism for visitors, accommodation, cruises and its own events, the National Planning Council and other ministries on the Qatar Open Data portal for national statistics, and Hamad International Airport, Qatar Museums, FIFA and Lusail International Circuit for their own counts. Each figure links to the report or dataset that carries it, with the date. Where Qatar Tourism has published different totals for the same year, only its latest annual reports (January 2026) are used. Figures carried only by news agencies, figures we would have had to calculate (including annual totals summed from monthly data) and unverified figures are left out. The direct tourism GDP share and Qatar Tourism's total contribution are different measures and are not compared; 2030 figures are targets. Climate figures are official 2018-2024 averages at the airport weather station, not long-term normals. Qatar Tourism and NPC citations are labelled by report or dataset. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.
- Civil Aviation Authority (precipitation data) · Sep 2026
- FIFA (Annual Report 2022) · 2023
- Hamad International Airport (2023 results) · Jan 2024
- Hamad International Airport (2024 results) · Jan 2025
- Hamad International Airport (2025 results) · Jan 2026
- Hamad International Airport (Concourses D and E) · Mar 2025
- Hamad International Airport (H1 2025 results) · Jul 2025
- Hamad International Airport (industry statement) · Mar 2026
- Hamad International Airport (Q3 2025 results) · Nov 2025
- Lusail International Circuit · Nov 2025
- Ministry of Transport (public transport users) · Oct 2026
- NPC (arrivals by port of entry) · Apr 2026
- NPC (balance of payments 2019-2023) · May 2025
- NPC (cinema statistics) · May 2025
- NPC (climate indicators) · Nov 2026
- NPC (court cases) · Sep 2026
- NPC (GDP by economic activity) · Aug 2026
- NPC (hotel beds by class) · Apr 2026
- NPC (hotel rooms by class) · Apr 2026
- NPC (hotels by class) · Apr 2026
- NPC (hotels by municipality) · Aug 2026
- NPC (hotels, rooms and beds by type) · Oct 2026
- NPC (Katara cultural events) · May 2025
- NPC (Labour Force Survey) · Jun 2026
- NPC (monthly weather data, Doha airport) · Nov 2026
- NPC (quarterly balance of payments) · Jul 2026
- NPC (SDG 3.6.1 road traffic deaths) · Jul 2026
- NPC (SDG 8.9.1 tourism direct GDP) · Aug 2026
- NPC (Third National Development Strategy) · Jan 2024
- NPC (traffic deaths and injuries) · Oct 2026
- NPC (visitor arrivals by mode of entry) · Nov 2026
- NPC (visitor arrivals by region) · Nov 2026
- Qatar Museums (exhibition data) · Jun 2025
- Qatar Museums (open data 2024) · Nov 2025
- Qatar Tourism (2021 campaign release) · 2021
- Qatar Tourism (2022/23 cruise release) · Jul 2023
- Qatar Tourism (2024 annual report) · Jan 2026
- Qatar Tourism (2024/25 cruise launch) · Nov 2024
- Qatar Tourism (2025 achievements report) · Jan 2026
- Qatar Tourism (2025 annual report) · Jan 2026
- Qatar Tourism (2030 aims, Dec 2024) · Dec 2024
- Qatar Tourism (4 million visitors release) · Dec 2023
- Qatar Tourism (accommodation open data) · May 2025
- Qatar Tourism (H1 2023 release) · Jul 2023
- Qatar Tourism (H1 2025 release) · Sep 2025
- Qatar Tourism (Hayya release) · Dec 2025
- Qatar Tourism (mid-season cruise release) · Feb 2025
- Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 release) · May 2025
- Qatar Tourism (Q1 2025 report) · Apr 2025
- Qatar Tourism (Q3 2025 report) · Oct 2025
- Qatar Tourism (Toy Festival release) · Aug 2025
- Qatar Tourism (World Cup legacy release) · Sep 2023
- Qatar Tourism (World Cup visitors release) · 2022
- Qatar Tourism (World Tourism Day statement) · Sep 2026