Organisers estimate that about 1.5 million fans will attend the World Cup 2022.
“There will be accommodation for everyone who wants to stay in Qatar” during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, according to FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino.
This comes around the same time fans discovered that a match ticket is their only way into the Gulf country as it will grant them an official FIFA ID, the Hayya card. This will in turn facilitate entry visas for international visitors. A failure to secure a game ticket for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will mean visitors are not allowed into the country during the tournament.
Qatar, as reported by Forbes, is planning to open more than 100 hotels and “serviced residences” to satisfy the expected demand.
The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), in a statement, revealed that available rooms for World Cup fans will reach 130,000. This it said, is a testament to the readiness of Qatar’s accommodation measures and hosting efforts. The available accommodations entail hotel rooms, floating hotels, villas, apartments, and fan villages.
The Supreme Committee has promised 60,000 rooms in apartments and villas, as well as approximately 4,000 rooms on two cruise ships.
In 2019, Qatar signed a deal with MSC Cruises to lease two luxury liners called floating hotels, which will be docked at Doha Port during the football event.
FIFA World Cup 2022 organisers guarantee ‘affordable’ accommodation for fans
FIFA organisers have placed pricing caps on the room rates that hotels can charge supporters with. Three star rated hotels are capped at around $120.
In an interview with Reuters, Infantino added “maybe somebody then wants to make a day in Dubai or Abu Dubai or Muscat or Riyadh or Jeddah or whatever in the region and they will have the opportunity to go and visit other countries throughout their stay in this region.”
Among the countries to provide a convenient tourist travel route is Iran, where the country’s Foreign Ministry proposed a visa free-of-charge plan enabling the entry of the World Cup visitors to Tehran except for nationals from US, UK, and Canada, including several other countries, Mehr News Agency reported on Sunday. The Islamic Republic’s The Supreme Council of Free Trade and Special Economic Zones of Iran also confirmed 400 direct flights from Iran’s Kish Island to Doha is scheduled to be launched in conjunction with the major tournament.
Visitors who are in possession of match game tickets can now book their stay through the official site for accommodation reservations, Qatar News Agency reported. The cost of accommodation in some apartments does not exceed $80 nightly, while booking some rooms in luxury floating hotels, with restaurants and recreational activities inclusions costs around $180 a night.
The Supreme Committee statement also noted that it signed an agreement with Accor, a major hospitality operator in Europe, to provide 10,000 employees responsible for operating during the event, 60,000 apartments and villas during the competition.
Accor’s regional CEO Mark Willis said the move is to challenge Airbnb. “This isn’t the norm for us. We’re hotel operators. This is something special. It’s our chance to be part of this huge global event and we’re grateful for that opportunity,” he stated.
“The idea is to provide a three-star-plus and four-star stay experience, over and above Airbnb where you just hand over the keys. If you need to make a call, if you need assistance, there will be housekeeping, reception services, and our hygiene procedures will be there. From a service quality perspective, we’ll be in the apartments every day or every other day cleaning.”
World Cup Qatar organisers have reassured supporters that the event will be “as affordable as possible for everyone,” FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 CEO Nasser Al-Khater noted in an interview with SunSport.
