Qatar expands Hayya platform to welcome more visitors

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Qatar - As a step towards boosting tourism in Qatar, three new categories of e-visa will be added to the Hayya Platform which will roll-out with immediate effect. This will allow tourists to enter country seamlessly.

Qatar Airways Group CEO H E Akbar Al Baker announced this in a press conference, held on Sunday at Hamad International Airport (HIA), adding that the Hayya Platform will become the country's single portal for all tourists to enter the country.

The Hayya e-visa will categorise visitors based on nationality, residency or other international visa that a traveller already has.

Al Baker stated that over 95 nationalities already enjoy visa free access either through Visa on Arrival or Visa Free Entry into the country.

Explaining the three new categories who will be granted easier access, the Qatar Airways Group CEO stated that A1 category will include all nationalities that do not qualify for Visa on Arrival or Visa Free Entry. Meanwhile, A2 will be for GCC residents, which will now cover all professions. Lastly, the A3 category is for international visitors with visa or residency from Schengen, UK, USA, Canada, and New Zealand.

"Our ambition is to attract 6 million visitors to our country every year by 2030. This will not only provide a valuable contribution to our economy but will help create countless employment opportunities across our country," Al Baker said at the press conference.

This relaunch of Hayya will accelerate the status of Doha as Arab Tourism Capital and will allow visitors from over 15 Arab countries to enjoy Qatar and all its treasures, added Al Baker.

The country already welcomed over 1 million by the end of the first quarter of 2023, which also included those who enter the country through cruise. "We have already reached a total of 1,167,000 visitors by the end of March 2023. These numbers also include a very successful cruise season," Al Baker said.