Qatar’s hospitality sector is expected to boom with the number of hotels rising sharply in the coming years, say experts. Hotel numbers are likely to almost double in five years, Al Asmakh Real Estate Development Company (AREDC) said in a recent report.

Around 115 hotels with 20,688 rooms are operational in Qatar.

“Nearly 105 upcoming hotels with approximately 21,000 rooms are at various stages of construction. The ratio between operational and upcoming hotels is almost equal,” said the report. “Majority of the upcoming hotels would be operated before 2021 that means the hotels and their rooms would become almost double in next five years,” added the report.

Increasing supply of hotel rooms in Qatar is good news for its hospitality sector because it will support tourism. Tourists flocking to Qatar will get a lot of options to choose in terms of quality and variety. Qatar has emerged as an important destinations in terms of business tourism because of increasing number of business events. The country is hosting many international exhibitions, seminars and conferences attracting professionals from across the globe.

“Between 2014 and 2015, due to increase of 5.4 percent in Average Daily Rate (ADR), the highest decrease in occupancy level was noticed in 5-Star category at 10.4pc,” said the report. “Change of ADR in other segments remains stable although occupancies were reduced in 3-Star and economy categories by 7 percent to 8.5 percent. The 4-Star category hotels performed unwaveringly both in terms of ADR and occupancy between 2014 and 2015,” added the report.

Hotels in Qatar get more business travellers as Doha is a major business destination.

The corporate segment accounts for more than 60 percent of hotel demand. Experts say Qatar’s hospitality sector offers huge potential for growth of affordable hotels, mainly two- and three-star hotels.

Currently, the country’s hospitality market is dominated by four- and five-star hotels.

The hospitality sector saw 13 new hotels last year, mostly four- and five-star ones.

According to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics, hotels in Qatar witnessed average occupancy of around 67 percent in December last year, helped by GCC tourists.

January was the best month for hotels as occupancy in the first month of last year was around 84 percent, highest in the year.

Four-star hotels saw the highest occupancy while three-star ones lowest occupancy.

Four-star hotels saw occupancy rate of 72 percent in December and three-star hotels 62 percent.

The occupancy rate of five-star hotels was 64 percent while one- and two-star hotels saw occupancy of 69 percent in December. (Source)

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