Fall in Doha’s hotel occupancy rate

doha — A boycott imposed by four Arab nations that accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism is squeezing the tourism sector and Doha’s hotels which would normally be full in the Eid Al Fitr holiday have seen steep falls in their occupancy rates.

A Reuters survey of five major hotels found average occupancy was around 57 per cent at the start of the Eid holidays on Sunday.

“We are usually packed with Saudis and Bahrainis but not this year,” a staff member at a fivestar hotel said. Aviation analyst Will Horton estimated Hamad International Airport, one of the Middle East’s busiest, would handle 76 per cent as many flights in early July compared with the same period last year, a loss of about 27,000 passengers a day.

“Doha in early July, assuming the restrictions remain, will have less capacity than a year ago — a confronting figure for a region where every month sets year-on-year records,” said Horton, senior analyst at Australia’s CAPA Centre for Aviation. — Reuters