According to Bloomberg., fans attending the World Cup in Qatar can now book hundreds of hotel rooms that had previously been blocked off by the FIFA 2022 World Cup organizers.
FIFA and Qatar’s Supreme Committee withheld the accommodations in order to give preference to the opposing teams, sponsors, and visitors of those sponsors, as well as to officials, royal guests, and ticketed supporters.
However, according to a person privy to the matter, thousands of unallocated rooms are now being freed ahead of the World Cup’s scheduled start date of 20 November.
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Hotel executives have been saying that more rooms would become available in early October in a bid to ease the shortage.
“The availability picture will become much, much broader,” Guy Hutchinson, president and chief executive of Rotana Hotel Management Corp., said in an interview, according to reports.
“A lot of those concerns are going to be answered in the very short term.”
Throughout the competition, he anticipates 90% or more occupancy for his buildings.
The country is on schedule to deliver 130,000 accommodations for the competition and more than 117,000 of those rooms are presently accessible, according to a Qatari spokesperson.
There are a variety of lodging alternatives, including tents, Airbnb-style lodging, at least two cruise ships, and around 4,000 cabins.
The nation has been working continuously to prepare for the event, including overhauling the sewage systems to handle the 1.2 million expected visitors over the course of the month-long celebration, reports detail.
The majority of tourists will arrive during the first two weeks of the competition, and many will stay in nearby nations like the United Arab Emirates while flying in and leaving on the same day. To manage an increase in flights, Qatar reopened a secondary airport to the general public.
The stadiums, which were largely built from scratch, are completed. But with a target completion date of 1 November, at least a dozen hotels, including five-star establishments, are still under construction. Some hotels expect to offer all of their rooms and restaurants in time for the event, while others will only have some rooms ready.
The official tournament website currently lists very little hotel room availability for the first few nights of the tournament. However, the individual booking websites for hotels have more rooms available.
The cost of a private residence, or villa, ranges from QAR 787 to QAR 300 per night.
Studios with twin beds akin to those found in hostels are also available in a number of buildings and properties. There are also tents and other lodging options in fan villages, which range in price from QAR 407 to QAR 1512 per night with a two-night minimum stay.
Daily shuttle flights
With more than a million fans pouring into the Gulf country for the much anticipated World Cup 2022, Qatar Airways announced in May its partnership with regional airlines to enable World Cup ticket holders to travel to Qatar and back from countries in the region just for the day during the entirety of the tournament.
The announcement included an extra 30 daily rotation flights between Dubai and Doha, operated by flydubai, 10 daily rotation flights between Kuwait City and Doha, operated by Kuwait Airways, 24 daily rotation flights between Muscat and Doha, operated by Oman Air, and 20 daily rotation flights between Riyadh and Jeddah to Doha.
This brings the total to more than 160 daily flights for football fans based in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Through the Match Day Shuttle flight option, supporters will arrive to Doha in the morning and depart in the evening, with no hotel accommodation required.
A no check-in baggage policy will also be available to simplify an easy-in, easy-out travel itinerary for the passengers.
flydubai will be able to bring 2,500 passengers per day, while Oman Air will be able to transport 3,400 fans. Kuwait Airways has committed to transporting as many as 1,700 fans, while Saudia will use larger aircraft to facilitate 5,000 fans from Riyadh and Jeddah.
In addition to the World Cup shuttle flights, airlines will continue to operate normal scheduled flights to Doha.
These flights will add to the current estimate of the CO2 emissions during the tournament.
