Qatar residents directed 60 billion riyals toward foreign tourism expenses in 2023.

Doha-Qatar

In 2023, Qatar saw a significant rise in the amount its residents spent on tourism and travel abroad, with an increase of 34.5% to approximately 60 billion riyals, according to data from the 
Qatar Central Bank's current account.

The previous year had witnessed Qatar residents spending 59.970 billion riyals (equivalent to $16.605 billion) on tourism abroad, a notable surge from the 44.626 billion riyals ($12.356 billion) expended in 2022.

Qatar's spending on the foreign tourism sector peaked in the fourth quarter of the preceding year, reaching an all-time high of 17.8 billion riyals.

The nation is classified among the countries exporting tourism and displaying significant expenditure on tourism abroad.

As per the third national strategy, the government aims to broaden tourism patterns and introduce new tourism offerings to enhance the sector's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product to 12% by 2030.

Expenditure on overseas tourism was spread across the year, with 13.087 billion riyals spent in the first quarter, 12.581 billion riyals in the second quarter, and 19.463 billion riyals and 17.839 billion riyals in the third and fourth quarters of 2023, respectively.

Moreover, this surge in spending positively impacted Qatar’s revenues from the tourism sector, which amounted to 32.207 billion riyals in 2023, compared to 26.435 billion riyals in 2022, marking an annual increase of 21.83%.

The Qatar Central Bank's survey revealed revenue distribution as follows: 6.774 billion riyals in the first quarter, 8.026 billion riyals in the second quarter, 8.054 billion riyals in the third quarter, and 9.353 billion riyals in the fourth quarter of the preceding year.

In 2023, there was a notable decrease in the services account deficit, declining by 26.72% to 22.109 billion riyals, compared to 30.171 billion riyals in the previous year.

Furthermore, the current account surplus, encompassing goods, services, income, and current transfers, also decreased by 42.22% to 132.749 billion riyals in 2023, compared to 229.749 billion riyals in the previous year.
Overall, Qatar’s balance of payments surplus decreased by 43.47% in 2023, amounting to 14.185 billion riyals ($3.928 billion), compared to 25.092 billion riyals ($6.947 billion) in 2022.
 

Source: The Peninsula