FIFA World Cup 2022: Qatar falling short of expected 1.2M influx, see 760K+ visitors
Currently, only eight teams are staying in Doha, and a total of eight games are left out of 64, which means a significant surge in visitors is unlikely.
Qatar has witnessed over 765,000 visitors during the first two weeks of the World Cup, which ends on December 18, 2022, revealed an organisers' report obtained by Reuters,
Prepared by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), which organises the tournament, the report added that the first 17 days of the World Cup saw 765,859 international visitors. More than half of these visitors have now departed.
It highlighted that the country is not meeting its expectation of an influx of 1.2 million during the international event. Previously, the organisers had identified the peak period for international visitors to be November 24-28 when 32 teams were playing four matches every day. According to the numbers obtained, the cumulative stadium attendance at the first 52 matches was 2.65 million.
Currently, only eight teams are staying on in Doha, and a total of eight games are left out of 64, which means that a significant surge in visitors is unlikely at this stage. The report registered 1.33 million match ticket holders and 3.09 million tickets sold across the eight Qatar stadiums.
A Qatari official, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the said figures, added Reuters.
The tournament in Qatar, the first to be held in the Middle East, is considered one of the most expensive in terms of tickets, hotels, and alcohol, sales of which are restricted.
"With over a week of competition still to go, a wave of new visitors has started arriving from the nations that made it to the quarter-finals," the Qatari official told Reuters.
The number of visitors for popular matches is expected to increase post the country's move of lifting entry restrictions for nationals and residents of fellow Gulf states. A number of Moroccan fans arrived in Qatar on special flights arranged ahead of Morocco's victory over Spain, a trend that is expected to repeat as last-minute fans fly in to attend the final three rounds of the tournament.
Previously, visitors to the country had to obtain a Hayya identification card ahead of travel but Qatar has dropped this requirement for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
The visitors also denote a 25% increase in Qatar's resident population, which is around 3 million, of which only an estimated 10-12% are Qatari nationals.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta
