To facilitate smooth access for fans traveling by road to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the Abu Samra border crossing’s capacity has been quadrupled to 4,000 persons per hour.
According to Yousuf Ahmed Al Hammadi, Assistant Director of Land Customs Department at the General Authority of Customs, two new entry and departure facilities totaling 5,000 square meters each have been constructed at the Abu Samra checkpoint.
“Expecting a huge number of fans by road during the mega sporting event, the General Authority of Customs has expanded Abu Samra checkpost facilities and installed most advanced equipment to speed up the entry process of travellers,” he said during an interview with Al Rayyan TV.
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“Each facility has 22 counters for the procedures required by the passport office in addition to screening equipment for customs inspection and entry points for fans.”
He claimed that the most cutting-edge machinery had been deployed to expedite the passport office and customs inspection process. He also revealed that the checkpoint can now accommodate 2,000 spectators each hour.
If the number of travellers increase, both facilities could be combined into one for entry or exit, depending on the situation, raising the capacity to 4,000 people per hour at a time.
In order to accommodate the increased number of visitors travelling to watch the FIFA World Cup matches, the official explained that the facilities have been created to make entry-only or exit-only at a time easier.
The checkpoint at Abu Samra’s existing counters that currently assist travellers in automobiles will continue to do so throughout the mega tournament.
Such efforts were put in place due to the expected high number of fans travelling by car from the GCC this coming November and December, with authorities already highlighting an increase in visitors.
The most foreign visitors Qatar has received in a single summer month since 2017 arrived in July with 151,000.
A statement made by the Qatar Tourism Authority earlier this month claimed that 62% of all visitors were from the nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
43% of all visits were from Saudi Arabia, followed by 7% from India, 6% from Oman, 4% from Kuwait, 5% from Bahrain, 4% from the United Arab Emirates, 3% from the United States, and 3% from the United Kingdom.
