Travel has seen an increase as a result of the high vaccination rates in the region and the relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions globally.
The rapid increase in tourists arriving in Qatar in May was driven largely by travellers from the GCC and other Arab nations, which increased 12-fold.
Qatar has drawn tourists from a variety of regions around the world, with visitors from GCC nations accounting for a total of 54% of all arrivals, data released by the country’s Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
A year-over-year increase of 869% and a monthly increase of 69.7% are seen in the overall data, which shows that 166,090 visitors arrived in May 2022 as opposed to just 17,140 in the same month last year.
The number of visitors from the GCC increased by 1,213.8% to reach 90,309 in May 2022 from 6,874 in the same month last year.
There were 30,258 visitors from the GCC in April of this year alone.
9,802 visitors from the neighbouring countries arrived in Qatar in May 2022 compared to a mere 747 in May 2021, which is an increase of 1,212.2% year over year and 10% monthly.
Meanwhile, travellers from other Arab nations made up 6% of all visitor arrivals.
The report said 18% of the total visitors were from Asian nations, with 29,824 visitors in May of this year as opposed to 7,156 in the same month last year, an increase of 318%
May 2022 saw 2,177 visitors from other African nations, while 25,294 Europeans travelled to Qatar, up from 1,742 during the same month in 2021.
In May 2022, the region’s residents made up 15% of all travellers, while 8,684 visitors came from the Americas in May 2022 as opposed to 363 during the same time last year.
Increase in visitors via land border
By land, 81,426 came by land, 10,100 visitors came via sea, and 74,744 by air, highlighting how the opening of the land borders has greatly contributed to those numbers.
Travel has also seen an increase as a result of the high vaccination rates in the region and the relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions globally.
The General Authority of Customs said 62,628 vehicles entered and left Qatar through the Abu Samra border during the last Eid Al Fitr celebrations.
