Doha, Qatar – Qatar Tourism has issued licenses to more than 3,500 holiday homes for over 9,500 rooms since the launch of the initiative last year to accommodate FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 visitors and fans.Â
Head of Tourism Control Section at Qatar Tourism Ali Bu Matar Al Muhannadi said at a press statement on Thursday that Tourism Control Section works to facilitate tourism licensing procedures while continuing periodic inspections to ensure quality and readiness of facilities for the World Cup.
He said more than 25 hotel establishments, including hotels and hotel apartments, have also been licensed in addition to building tourist clubs, classifying and licensing them.
Qatar hopes to house some of the 1.2 million fans expected to attend the FIFA World Cup later this year in 1,000 “traditional tents”, organisers said on Tuesday.
“This is one of the options that will go live in the next two weeks,” Omar al-Jaber, an official responsible for accommodation at the supreme committee organising the tournament, told AFP earlier.
“It is real camping,” he said during a press briefing. “We need to give people the experience of a desert and tent in normal Bedouin style.”
The tents will be supplied with water, electricity and drainage systems, but no air conditioning in the country known for extreme summer heat but moderate winters.
Held from November 21 to December 18, the World Cup will be the first staged during the northern winter to avoid summer temperatures that at times surpass 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
He added that “more than 100,000 rooms” will be available at the time of the tournament, seeking to allay concerns over accommodation capacity in the tiny emirate.
Fans will be able to choose between taking up residence in specially designated villages, as well as apartments, villas, cabins and two cruise ships.
A large portion of the country’s hotel rooms have already been pre-booked by organisers for the teams, referees and the press, but FIFA will release any unused rooms, Jaber said
More than 160 round-trip flights are scheduled daily from neighbouring Gulf countries to allow them to accommodate supporters.