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Qatar: Tourism declines by 30% due to COVID-19

June 4, 2020 at 9:43 am

Few people are seen at Souq Waqif as precaution against coronavirus (COVID-19) in Doha, Qatar on 14 March 2020. [Serdar Bıtmez – Anadolu Agency]

The number of tourists visiting Qatar declined by 30.6 per cent during the first quarter of 2020 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, Anadolu reported yesterday.

According to data issued by the Qatari Ministry of Planning and Statistics, the number of tourists fell to 547,175 during the first four months of 2020 compared to 789,027 during the same period in 2019.

This came as the Gulf state grounded flights on 18 March in order to control the spread of COVID-19.

Most of the tourists who visited Qatar were from Europe, 41 per cent, followed by Oceania, 31 per cent, and then the Gulf states who made up ten per cent came to the country.

In 2019, the number of tourists increased by 17.4 per cent to 2,136,000 people.

Qatar has been working to attract 5.6 million tourists a year by 2023.

As of yesterday, the Gulf state has recorded 60,259 COVID-19 cases, including 43 deaths.

READ: Greece suspends Qatar flights till mid-June after 12 test positive