Owing to various initiatives taken by the Qatar National Tourism Council, a large number of visitors from around the globe are visiting Qatar and their number crossed one million in June this year.

The official statistics reveal that 113,302 visitors belong to GCC countries; 76, 666 people from other Arab countries; 21,052 from other African countries; 408,071 from other countries of Asia including Oceania; 338,692 from Europe and 95, 232 visitors came from Americas.

The ‘visitor-arrivals’ in Qatar Monthly Statistics Bulletin measures non-residents travelling to Qatar on a short-term basis for all purposes.

The statistics of the month of June also indicate very good occupancy rate of hotels in Qatar. Overall occupancy rate in all star categories remained 65 percent in June this year.

The occupancy rate of 3-star hotels topped the list showing 76 percent occupancy rate followed by 2- and 1-star hotels (75 percent); 4-star hotels (67 percent) and 5-star hotels (61 percent).

The performance of hotel apartments also remained promising in June 2019 showing overall 73 percent occupancy rate.

In May this year, residents of Qatar were enabled to invite their relatives and friends easily as the country further eased visa processes as a part of the ‘Summer in Qatar’ programme which began on June 4 and will conclude on August 16.

To facilitate visitors under the ‘Summer in Qatar’ programme, an electronic visitor authorisation system was also launched by the Ministry of Interior and the Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) in June this year.

The authorisation system has enabled residents to invite family and relatives from around the world to visit Qatar during the ‘Summer in Qatar’ programme and obtain a free visa upon arrival after applying through the online portal: http://www.qatarvisaservices.com.

Online authorisation system streamlines application process with a 24-hour turnaround time.

To boost tourism in Qatar, the Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) last month partnered with Chinese technology giant Huawei in a deal that will help to attract more visitors from the world’s fastest-growing visitor source market.

The partnership saw a Huawei camera crew visit Qatar to capture iconic and historic attractions around the country using the Huawei P30 Pro. The breathtaking images can now be used as wallpaper on Huawei phones.

Huawei also will promote videos taken by Huawei P30 Pro in Qatar through their online channels such as Huawei APP, social media and other video platforms, giving images of Qatar significant exposure to Chinese consumers.