Undoubtedly, Qatar has risen handsomely to the world stage. It has the fourth-highest GDP at purchasing power parity per capita globally, is one of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas and will soon host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Working in tandem with that growth is the country’s hospitality market estimated to reach US$54 billion by 2030, according to a recent estimate by Knight Frank. That report noted that at present there are over 56,000 hotel rooms under development in the country with an estimated value of US$7 billion. Also, international brands represent 62 per cent of its inventory pipeline.

One of the key players in the country’s hospitality sector is Qatar-based Katara Hospitality whose portfolio includes 42 owned and managed hotels across several markets including Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand and the US. In a landmark signing last year, it reached a management agreement with French hospitality company Accor to bring the latter’s prestigious Fairmont and Raffles brands to Qatar. These two iconic brands are located in Doha’s Katara Towers in Lusail, whose architecture is inspired by the upward-facing curved swords found in the coat of arms of the peninsular country.

Accor said that its worldwide revenue for H1 2022 stood at EUR1.725 billion, up 97 per cent year-on-year. As of the end of June, its worldwide portfolio included 777,945 rooms across 5,300 hotels…