Qatar tourism sector recorded more than 2.33 million visitor arrivals during the first eight months of this year. Tourists entered Qatar using its land, air and seaports between January and August, according to figures from Qatar Tourism. Visitor numbers increased month-on-month in August, with 303,000 arrivals recorded, a 6.3% increase on the 285,000 visitors recorded in July.
Qatar Tourism Visitors Rank Highest From The GCC Region
The GCC ranked first for visitor arrivals with 958,000 tourists representing 41% of total visitors, a 6% increase from 2025. Accordingly, Gulf tourists comprised over two in five arrivals making the region Qatar’s largest source market during the period. Asia and Oceania ranked as the second-largest source region, contributing 489,000 visitors, or 20.9% of the total. Meanwhile, Europe followed closely with 486,000 arrivals, representing 20.8% of Qatar’s visitor numbers according to further Qatar Tourism data. The Americas accounted for 169,000 visitors, or 7.2%, while other Arab countries contributed 162,000 arrivals, representing 6.9%.
Qatar has been using a large events and entertainment programme to support tourism during traditionally slower summer months. Visit Qatar launched its Hala Summer campaign across the country from May until September. During August, the campaign expanded into a month-long shopping and dining festival involving Doha`s major malls. In addition, sports remain a major part of the longer-term events strategy, alongside culture, entertainment and business tourism.
Hamad International Airport Is The Gateway To Qatar
Hamad International Airport remains central to Qatar’s ability to convert international connectivity into tourism arrivals. The airport served a record 54.3 million passengers in 2025, up 3% year-on-year. Point-to-point traffic involving passengers traveling directly to or from Doha reached 13.5 million, an increase of 5.4%. Tourism is one of the nations priority industries in efforts to expand the economy. Accordingly, the Third National Development Strategy and Qatar National Vision 2030 aim to attract over six million international visitors annually by 2030. In addition, a major Qatar Tourism strategy also aims to raise tourism’s contribution to GDP to 12%.
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