The country that shows the highest performance for the period of the World Cup is the UAE. Bookings are now 103 times higher than in 2016.
Bookings for flights to Qatar from the 31 countries participating in the World Cup final and from the UAE, which will host the majority of fans during the tournament, are now 10 times higher than pre-pandemic levels. We are talking about submitting tickets to Qatar for the period from November 14 to December 24.
The UAE is the highest performer during the World Cup with 103 times more bookings than in 2016! The Emirates is followed by Mexico, outperforming 2019 by 79 times. Next – Argentina – 77 times more than pre-pandemic indicators, Spain – 53 times, and Japan – 46 times. The high performance of the UAE is explained by the lack of housing in Qatar. Many fans are expected to stay in the UAE and fly to Qatar for one-day match days. Day trips currently account for 4% of all arrivals in Qatar during the World Cup, with 85% of those on flights from the UAE.
Despite the current requirement to have a negative test to enter Qatar, the popularity of the tournament is such that in the first nine months of the year millions of searches for flights to Qatar were recorded on the Internet: 12% each from the United Arab Emirates and the United States, 7% each from Spain and India, 6% – from the UK and Germany.
Bookings for flights to the Gulf countries during the competition are currently 16% above the “normal” figures and even 61% in the early stages. Analysis shows that many World Cup visitors travel further to other destinations in the region. For example, the number of people who came for at least two nights in Qatar and stayed in neighboring countries for at least another two nights is sixteen times more than before the pandemic in 2019. Dubai is by far the biggest beneficiary of this trend, accounting for 65% of follow-up visits. The next most popular destination is Abu Dhabi (14%), followed by Jeddah (8%), Muscat (6%), and Medina (3%). Most of these “regional tourists” are from the US, accounting for 26%. Canadians will be delayed 10%, the British – 9%, and the French, Mexicans, and Spaniards – 5% each.
Most US residents will come to Dubai from Doha – 32%; but in Abu Dhabi – Australians, their share is 11%.