Middle East volumes of bookings to Qatar for the Fifa World Cup are over 4,000% higher compared to January 2022 levels, said Sojern, a digital marketing platform for the travel industry, in a new report.

Not only is the Middle East hosting the World Cup, but regional airlines including Flydubai and Air Arabia have opened dozens of match day shuttle flights between Dubai and Doha, and Sharjah and Doha.

The launch of daily shuttle flights to Doha means that there is an easy way for travellers to watch their World Cup matches without staying overnight in the capital. Hotel marketers should use data to reach travellers who are potentially looking to visit Qatar, and highlight their offerings.

Moreover, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE are all showing significant year on year percentage increases.

In 2021, nearly two-thirds of travel to Qatar happened within two weeks of booking. Only 4% of 2021 trips were booked more than three months before travel. “Looking at 2022 lead times, we can see that long lead times have shifted quite substantially. Currently, 18% of trips to Qatar are booked three months ahead of travel, which aligns with the World Cup period,” the Sojern report said. 

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