By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter


Average occupancy rates across hotels in Qatar from January to August held steady at 71% from the same period last year despite a 32% increase in the number of hotel rooms, a senior official of Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has said.
QTA chief tourism and development officer Hassan al-Ibrahim explained that 15 new properties out of the 119 (97 hotels and 22 hotel apartments) have been added to their hotel data collection since the start of 2015.
The 15 new properties which opened this year include Asherij Hotel, Aparthotel Adagio Premium Doha Westbay, Banana Island Resort by Anantara, Doha Dynasty Hotel, Doha Tourist Hotel, Golden Ocean Hotel, Marsa Malaz Kempinski, Melia Doha, Najd Boutique Hotel, Rawda Hotel,
Warwick Doha Hotel, Sapphire Plaza Hotel, Saraya Corniche, L’etoile Hotel, and Al Diafa Hotel Apartment.
To boost hotel occupancy and attract more tourists from abroad, he said they identified different types of tourism products and services that will contribute “to a more diverse tourism offering.”
In July, al-Ibrahim noted that average occupancy across all hotels and hotel apartments in Qatar was 57% and rose to 63% in August.
“Year-to-date visitor arrivals neared 2mn for the first time, up 6% over the same period in 2014, bringing Qatar closer to achieving the milestone of 3 mn visitors by the end of the year,” he added.
Despite the high competition in the hospitality industry, many hoteliers said that “everyone still gets a fair share of the pie” due to the increasing number of visitors.
QTA also focuses on environmental, social and cultural sustainability as part of its strategy to boost tourism.
It participates in varies international events, trade shows and develop a rich calendar of festivals to promote the country as a destination.
Besides requiring hotels to include Qatari food in their menus, the QTA official said they also support and encourage them to participate in national events such as the National Day.
He added that a new classification manual will also be announced soon, allowing hotels to assess themselves based on sustainability requirements before QTA assess and classify them.
“In the Earth Hour, the event that we held this year, it was an opportunity to inform the hotels that such requirement and measurement will be assessed,” al-Ibrahim said.