World Cup a boon for tourism in Gulf countries

Thursday, January 5, 2023

The Arab Gulf Center for Studies and Research (CSRGulf) has revealed all Gulf countries benefited immensely from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 — the first to be hosted in the Middle East and the Arab world, except for Kuwait, which ranked last.

According to the Kuwait-based think-tank, over 2.5 million people visited the region during the World Cup, of which hosts Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia were significant beneficiaries in terms of tourism.

However, CSRGulf said that Kuwait failed to fully maximise the tourism potential brought by the World Cup due to the delay in restructuring its tourism sector and aviation fleet and the delay in completing expansion works on the international airport.

Meanwhile, Qatar has the second largest contribution to the nation’s GDP through tourism. The sector brings in 10.3% of the nation’s GDP behind the UAE.

According to CSRGulf, the tourism infrastructure has significantly benefited from Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, and thanks to the development of the sector, benefiting from the World Cup activities and the promotion of several tourist destinations in the country.

The UAE topped the classification of the Gulf countries in terms of tourism revenues and its contribution to the gross domestic product. The sector contributes more than 11.6% to the UAE’s output.

The Center stated that Bahrain is third in the region as tourism contributes 6.8% to its GDP. Saudi Arabia placed fourth is an emerging destination for tourism and entertainment in the Middle East.

Tourism contributes 5.3% of the Kingdom’s GDP, with projections pointing towards a significant increase.

Kuwait and Oman bring up the least, with tourism bringing in 3.3% and 3% of their GDP, respectively.

The CSRGulf report also stated that the air fleets of major airlines in the Gulf and the increased flights to Qatar contributed to the region’s tourism growth during the World Cup.

A per the report, the UAE and Qatar have the most extensive air fleet, with 257 and 200, respectively, while Saudi Arabia has 144.

Oman’s numbers are put between 52-64; Bahrain has 36 operated by Gulf Airlines, while Kuwait ranked the last in the Gulf, with about 33 aircraft.

During the World Cup, GCC countries opened their borders to visiting World Cup fans, enabling Hayya Card holders’ multi-entry visas to their countries for stays, ranging up to 90 days. 

A report in November estimated that the World Cup would provide a lucrative $4bn uplift to the GCC spending levels with increasing spending by tourists and locals.

Meanwhile, Gulf tourists spend six times more than the rest of the world.

A 2018 World Tourism Organization report expenditure was estimated to be more than $60bn in 2017, up from $40bn in 2010.

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