- PressAcademia Procedia
- Volume:13 Issue:1
- A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF QATAR`S TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS WITH EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA, THE UNITED ARAB ...
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF QATAR`S TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS WITH EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA, THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND TURKEY
Authors : Ghialy YAP, Shrabani SAHA, Ali Salman SALEH, Nelson Oly NDUBİSİ, Saif S. ALSOWAİDİ
Pages : 17-21
Doi:10.17261/Pressacademia.2021.1415
View : 14 | Download : 8
Publication Date : 2021-07-30
Article Type : Research Paper
Abstract :Purpose- Qatar has placed its tourism sector as a focal sector in its economic diversification strategy. The country aims to develop diverse tourism products, ranging from cultural, urban, and nature tourism to education. Qatar plans to invest $45 billion in the tourism sector to increase international tourist numbers to seven million per annum by 2030 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Gulf Business, 2014);. Given these significant tourism investments, it is unquestionable that the country reaps commensurate long-term benefits in terms of the growth of its tourism sector and possible ripple effects in other sectors of the economy. However, Morakabati et al. insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(2014); argued that the country`s success in attracting tourists was limited due to several reasons. First, it lacks an appealing destination image. Second, civil liberty and political stability in the region are not well acknowledged by potential tourists and third, the country lacks strong promotions of religious and cultural traditions. This current research paper intends to conduct a comparative analysis of Qatar`s tourism competitiveness with its strong rivals, namely the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The paper`s main objective is to identify Qatar`s strengths and weaknesses relative to the competing destinations based on a SWOT analysis. Methodology- The study employs the Global Competitiveness Ranking from Euromonitor and various tourism data sources from the World Bank and Google. It conducts a comparative analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(SWOT); associated with Qatar`s tourism to its competing destinations. Findings- The analysis reveals that the average daily cost of living in Qatar is USD160, which is considerably high compared to Saudi Arabia insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD31);, Egypt insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD28); and Turkey insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD98);. Even though Qatar`s average daily cost is lower than the United Arab Emirates insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD198);, the latter destination offers more variety of tourism products than Qatar. Furthermore, the competing nations have invested more resources in tourism development than Qatar. For instance, Qatar`s capital investment in travel and tourism services in 2019 was the lowest insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD2.05billion);, compared to the United Arab Emirates insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD8.2billion);, Saudi Arabia insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD26.87billion);, Turkey insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD21.31billion); and Egypt insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(USD16.2billion);. Qatar performed the best in health and financial system among its competitors in terms of global competitiveness ranking. Conclusion- Based upon the analysis, it can be concluded that Qatar has lost its price competitiveness to its neighboring countries. Therefore, the Qatari government should focus on creating opportunities for those who can afford to buy a property and live in Qatar as second-home residents.Keywords : Comparative analysis, global competitiveness index, inbound tourism, tourism competitiveness, Qatar