Qatar welcomed less than 766,000 visitors in the first two weeks of the World Cup, according to a report by the host country's organizing committee. The number of visitors is unlikely to skyrocket at a time when there are only 8 teams left in Doha and only 8 remaining matches out of 64 matches of the tournament. Qatari authorities have determined that the peak period for welcoming international visitors will be from November 24 to 28 in the group stage, when 32 teams will compete in 4 matches per day.
According to a report on December 7 from the Supreme Committee for Transfers and Heritage (SC), the tournament organizer, more than half of the 765,859 visitors to Qatar have left. 1.33 million people have registered to buy tickets and 3.09 million tickets will be sold at 8 stadiums in Qatar for the tournament to end on December 18. An unnamed Qatari official confirmed the figures.
The 2022 World Cup, held for the first time in the Middle East, is considered one of the most expensive tournaments for ticket prices for football, hotels and beer - in which alcoholic beverages are a limited item.
The number of international visitors was less than initially forecast, leading to an unexpected surplus of hotel rooms. But the positive side is the overload of hotel infrastructure, traffic does not occur.
The tournament is still in place for more than a week, a new wave of visitors has begun to Qatar from other countries in the quarter-finals, said a Qatari official.
Statistics show that the total number of visitors to the stadium in the first 52 matches was 2.65 million people. FIFA previously said that the number of spectators coming to the stadium in Qatar exceeded the number of spectators coming to the stadium in the same period at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Earlier this week, hundreds of Morocco fans flew to Qatar on special flights arranged to serve fans to watch the qualifying match between the national team and Spain. Similar flights are expected to be held for fans from countries to Qatar at the last minute to watch the final three rounds of the tournament.
Tourists to Qatar must register for a Hayya card first, as this card acts as a mandatory entry visa for the World Cup. Qatar has recently lifted this requirement for citizens of countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
