Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Qatar is all set for a tourism boom from hosting the FIFA World Cup, which starts in less than two weeks, Qatar Tourism Chief Operating Officer Berthold Trenkel has said.
Talking about the country’s preparations for an event of this scale in an interview with CNN at the World Travel Market this week, Trenkel said, "We are ready. I always keep telling people it’s been twelve years since Qatar was awarded the FIFA World Cup. Obviously, the eight stadiums are ready, and all stadiums have played matches. So they’re match-ready. Infrastructure – the metro actually opened in 2019. The highways are all done. The major beautification of Doha Downtown and the cornice is done. A lot of hotels and construction…most of them already hosting FIFA officials and teams are arriving this week.”
On his biggest concerns ahead of the World Cup, Trenkel has said, "I think it’s just the sheer number of people is something new for a country the size of Qatar. We have three million inhabitants. And at the peak, we’ll have probably additional people in a single time in the country. So that is a lot of people and everyone is here for one sole reason.”
About developing Qatar as a tourism hotspot, he said, "Before the pandemic, we had about 2.1 million international visitors. We want to grow this to six or seven million by 2030. So that means really reactivating now the region. And Saudi today makes up about 33 percent of our visitors. But bringing back Europe, bringing back the Americans and specifically also growing Asia, Indian subcontinent and everyone is looking for the Chinese tourist.”
On competition for tourists with neighbouring countries in the region, he said, "It’s not that you have to win at the expense of others. It’s about growing actually the market of tourists coming to the Middle East. There are still a lot of misconceptions. Whether it’d be safety…and on the contrary, Qatar is the safest country on the planet. The World Cup will obviously help us to change some of those misconceptions.”