Doha: As countdown to FIFA 2022 begins with the announcement of Qatar World Cup days, the Qatari business community is all agog with a fresh wave of confidence.
The formal announcement of the tournament dates has infused an added buoyancy to the travel industry, hospitality industry, and contracting and real estate sector.
The construction sector will witness the re-launch of a series of delayed or held over projects in the coming months.
The travel industry is busy reworking on its FIFA-related business plans.
The property market, which had witnessed a muted response in the past few quarters, is also busy strategising their 2022 future plans.
All the government projects directly linked to FIFA World Cup 2022 are fast progressing.
In the run up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar is committed to spend $200bn to develop new stadiums, a $35bn metro and rail system, and a new city for 200,000 people.
Now the decks have been cleared, the slowed down construction projects are expected to take off in the coming months, Ahmad Jassim Al Jolo, Chairman Qatar Society of Engineers told The Peninsula.
“The market is positively responding to the announcement. The announcement from Russia has created a momentum in the market. We are expecting a pick up in the market once the summer holidays are over,” he said.
The hospitality segment of the construction sector should really see a huge pick up in the activities. According to international reports, FIFA mandates that tournament hosting country have 125,000 hotel rooms available.
According to property advisory firm DTZ, the total number of hotel and hotel apartment developments currently operating in Qatar was officially recorded at 122 in QTA’s end of year report for 2017.
These properties provide a total of 25,167 keys, including hotel rooms suites and hotel apartments. This means that the sector will witness huge activities in the run up to FIFA 2022.
The announcement of FIFA Qatar dates means a lot for Qatar’s property market said Nusair Al Ejli, a property leasing expert. “We will soon see more international hotel brands coming to Qatar. And Qatar will soon turn out to be a place for traders and businesses who have long-term business interests, he said.
Travel industry sources told The Peninsula that Qatar Tourism Authority’s (QTA) India office has already lined up two mega ‘Qatar Roadshows’ in India’s biggest cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai.
The Doha-based FAL Travelmart, a specialist in high quality and high tech customer-oriented travel related services enterprise, said it has already rolled out plans to promote Qatar in overseas market ahead of FIFA 2022 tournament.
FAL Travel mart will be an active participant in QTA India’s Qatar Roadshow and Networking workshop, said its Director A P Manikantan.
Qatar Chamber Director-General Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharqi said on Monday that private sector will play a bigger role both in the preparations and in the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament.
He said the Qatar FIFA World Cup will give a big boost to the country’s hospitality, tourism and other services sectors.
Credit: The Peninsula Qatar
URL:https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/18/07/2018/Qatar-businesses-gear-up-for-FIFA-2022