A country so well famed for its richness and generous Arabian hospitality, Qatar is set to host football's greatest competition on earth, the FIFA World Cup 2022. With 32 teams, over a million visitors, and eight world-class stadiums being lined-up by the country, this promises to be a grand spectacle.
While footballing fans from around the world are certainly in for a treat, there are also some promising signs for businesses in the country as any major event like the FIFA World Cup brings in a massive boost to any country's business.
So, let's understand the areas of businesses in which Qatar is set to benefit from the upcoming world cup.
Business Opportunities Ahead Of The FIFA World Cup In Qatar
Here's our take on the top business opportunities in Qatar around the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Business Opportunities For Travel Agencies
Talking about business opportunities, travel agencies in Qatar will be amongst the prominent gainers during the FIFA 2022 games in the country. As per an estimate, there are about 1.2-1.5 million visitors expected to visit Qatar during the world cup. This is all down to the central location of the country in the world as it makes Qatar easily commutable from virtually all parts of the world.
Having said that, once the 2022 World Cup kicks-off, travel agencies, and airlines will be on high alert as the number of visitors expected to arrive is already staggering, to say the least. There will be collaborations between Airlines and other countries to offer cheap flights to Qatar and to schedule departures and arrivals as per the needs and preferences of the visitors.
Likewise, the local travel agencies in the country running taxis and other transport services for easy commute will be dealing with huge demands during the FIFA 2022 as over a million visitors would want to travel from one venue to the other or back to their hotels from any other tourist location almost on an hourly basis. This would mean a huge profit and surge in business for such agencies.
Even the Doha metro network is set to benefit from the world cup since as per an estimate, the metro is expected to ferry around 1 million visitors during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The best part? If these numbers turn out to be true, then this will be a record in itself and Qatar would, in fact, have the highest number of visitors for a world cup ever.
Besides, it is important to note that all the international travel activities to the country or support related to them would link directly to Qatar's travel office which would mean individual parts of profit in the country.
Suggested Read: Top Places To Visit In Qatar On Your Next Trip
Restaurant And Hotels To Gain
Now think about this, if Qatar receives about one million visitors during the 2022 World Cup, there will be about 70,000 hotel rooms for over a million people. While this seems impossible and set to fail from Qatar's end, well, signs are positive too. The government in Qatar is taking all possible measures to counter the problem of accommodation that might arise in the country.
Multiple reports suggest the country has already signed deals with multiple cruise liners that would act as floating hotels for the visitors and accommodate about 40,000 people during the FIFA World Cup. Likewise, the country has even approached the organizers of Glastonbury, the famous British Music Festival in order to set up luxury tents in the desert for the visitors to come and stay during the world cup.
While these measures show some promising signs towards countering the problem of accommodation, every single hotel room in the country would be packed with visitors during the whole world cup month which only means one thing, a massive surge in the business of hotels.
Likewise, the restaurants would be dealing with a wave of visitors during the FIFA World Cup too as it is pretty obvious that the people who'd stay would look for food options too. Particularly speaking about the famed restaurants in the country that offer a rich culinary experience, this would be the time to stay charged as customers will come pouring in all day and night.
Opportunities for Car Rentals
We spoke about how travel agencies offering taxi services and Airlines are set to benefit from the upcoming FIFA 2022 entertainment. Well, local car hires in the country won't be far behind. A thing is well evident in the country, car hires are considered the second-best options of travel in Qatar after taxis, and visitors coming to the country can get cheap rentals on cars for their holidays here.
During the FIFA World Cup, these local car rentals would be seeing a huge surge in demand as visitors staying in the country for the world cup would want to rent a car and explore the country themselves. In fact, if this still seems like a distant reality to you, well, most car rentals in Qatar have already begun revamping their schedules and sharpening their rates ahead of the world cup.
In fact, as the world cup edges closer, we will be seeing a surge in the number of partnerships between hotels and local car hires since the guests staying at the hotels would demand hired vehicles for their travels in the country.
Suggested Read:- Where to Stay in Doha on Your Next Travel?
Joint Ventures to Profit
This is one of the most significant points as far as the world cup is concerned. Joint ventures have already been of great assistance to Qatar in its $200 billion USD worth infrastructural projects ahead of the world cup.
In the 2017 Moushtarayat Conference, Qatar dedicated about 1.4 billion worth of business opportunities to small and medium enterprises in wake of the upcoming FIFA World Cup. Notably, so, the conference saw the two most important joint ventures emerge when the joint venture of PORR Qatar and MIDMAC was given the task of building the Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar which is also one of the venues for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Likewise, the second and perhaps the most significant of all joint ventures was the Contractor HBK Contracting Co. and CRCC who was handed the task of building the iconic Lusail Stadium for the world cup. It is more significant because of the fact that the Lusail Stadium will be the venue for the FIFA World Cup final in 2022 and is also set to be a stadium with the largest seating capacity of all during the world cup.
Other Boons for Businesses
There are multiple opportunities that Qatar is set to be blessed with as the Doha FIFA World Cup edges closer. The stock market has gone surging right since the time the country won the bid to host the world cup.
While bridging cultural gaps between the middle east and European nations would certainly be on the cards, private-public partnership models worth $100 billion will be the name of the game for Qatar.
There will be many companies who would launch commodities to promote themselves while encouraging people to come and watch world cup matches in the stadiums.
Facts Around The Upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022
Now we know about how the upcoming Doha FIFA games would be a trigger for business opportunities in the country. Let's discuss some other amazing facts around the world cup.
Record Number Of Flights-
The Hamad International Airport and Qatar Airways are set to join hands to bring in a staggering 1300 flights into the country on a daily basis for the whole month of FIFA 2022. The decision has been taken in order to provide enough flights for visitors to come to the country. Considering the geographical location of Qatar, experts believe that the estimated number of visitors may even go higher, eventually leading to a higher number of flights to Doha.
First-Ever Winter World Cup-
The Doha FIFA World Cup will officially be he first-ever winter world cup in the Northern Hemisphere. The competition has been moved from its usual slot of summer to winter considering the harsh weather conditions of Qatar during June and July.
Commutable World Cup-
The prospect of having a world cup in Qatar is also exciting because of the fact that country is one of the most commutable in the world and also one of the smallest. It is, in fact, about 1478 times smaller than the size of Russia who hosted the last world cup. This means that the cities and all the venues for the world cup are located near each other and visitors can travel from one place to another through the metro network which connects all venues.
Suggested Read: Doha Metro, Qatar: Get To Know Everything About This Advance Transit System In Qatar
Fewest Number Of Stadiums-
The FIFA World Cup which is to be held in 2022 will be hosted in the fewest stadiums ever with only eight stadiums being lined up for the whole competition. In fact, this will also be the first time ever when the stadiums will be fully air-conditioned. This is due to the day temperatures in Qatar that can soar up really quickly.
Suggested Read: A Take on the Stadiums Set for the FIFA 2022 World Cup
Most Expensive World Cup Ever-
This is perhaps one of the most notable points about the world cup in Qatar. With an estimated $200 billion USD being spent on infrastructural projects, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar is set to be the most expensive world cup ever by far.
Any major event when it takes place in any country brings a considerable amount of change is some of the other ways. In Qatar's case, not only is the FIFA World Cup set to bridge the cultural gap between Middle Eastern and European nations but it will also bring a massive boon for businesses in the country.
From joint ventures and hotels to a huge demand for travel and tourism agencies in the country, businesses of every scale are set to benefit from the upcoming world cup and the signs are already evident.
FAQs
Yes, Qatar will officially be the first-ever Middle Eastern country to host the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the winter of 2022.
The 2022 World Cup will commence on the 21st of November and end with the final scheduled on 18th December 2022, just a week before Christmas. This will, in fact, be the first-ever winter world cup in the Northern Hemisphere.
Although there is no official confirmation as to how much the tickets would cost for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022, there are predictions that the ticket may vary from $105 to $1200 depending on the category and fixture.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup would be jointly hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico with the majority of matches set to be played in the USA.
No, the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be played between 32 nations, as confirmed by FIFA. However, the 2026 world cup will see over 50 competing for the crown.