Qatar floats idea of housing fans on ships
Qatar plans to accommodate some 12,000 football fans on cruise ships during the World Cup in 2022, a spokesman for the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) says.
The proposal for “floating hotels” is a revival of an idea which was initially rejected two years ago.
However, Qatar is now seeking to strengthen its presence in the cruise ship market and the idea to house fans during the tournament has been re-floated.
The QTA announced the proposals at a trade conference in the US over the weekend.
In a statement on the official Qatar News Agency on Monday, the QTA said: “Over the past few years, QTA established a number of strong relationships with international cruise operators as well as with other specialists involved in the industry.
“This has proved to be of great importance especially that Qatar will be extensively benefiting from cruise ships over the 2022 World Cup, as a means of providing additional accommodation supply for fans and visitors over the period.”
“QTA will be contracting a minimum of 6000 rooms on cruise ships for 2022 tournament.”
A spokesman for the authority confirmed on Monday that this equated to space for 12,000 fans.
It is not yet clear where the cruise ships will be docked but as part of Qatar’s huge $US200 billion ($A255.53 billion) capital spending project, ahead of football’s most prestigious tournament, the country is building a new port south of the capital, Doha.
FIFA guidelines say Qatar must have 60,000 rooms available for fans by 2022.
The cruise ship proposal was first proposed in 2013 but then quietly dropped by the authorities.
Some one million people visited Brazil for the last football World Cup in 2014.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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60,000 rooms, I suspect not. Qatar make up the rules as they go, and will do whatever they want !! Change tournament dates, change their mind re providing air conditioned stadiums (an integral part of their bid) etc etc.