World Cup: 900% more bookings for travel from Germany to Qatar ⋆

World Cup: 900% more bookings for travel from Germany to Qatar

The interest among Germans in flying to the soccer World Cup in Qatar is increasing. The number of flights booked from Germany to Qatar in September was around 900 percent higher than the figure in January. This means that interest among German fans is still behind some other departure markets, but Germany currently ranks 12th with a 2.6 percent share of the total number of World Cup tourists. world cup qatar

The data comes from the tourism marketing company Sojern, which records the booking behavior of travelers from around the world. According to analyses conducted by Sojern, the highest number of World Cup tourists are from the neighboring United Arab Emirates (17 percent), followed by the US (7 percent), India (7 percent) and the UK (6 percent). The majority (51 percent) of the German World Cup fans are flying to Qatar from Frankfurt. This departure airport is followed by Munich (19 percent), Berlin (14 percent) and Düsseldorf (8 percent). The cities of Hanover and Stuttgart have recently also shown strong growth in this regard.

Mathias Gerber, Sales Director Sojern DACH: “In an international comparison, Germany is currently in 12th place among departure markets for travel to Qatar. Overall global demand for travel to the Middle East is high, and has exceeded 2019 figures. It will be interesting to see whether travel to Qatar and the surrounding GCC countries from Germany will continue to be popular after the tournament and into 2023.”

UAE the Top Feeder Market for World Cup world cup qatar

United Arab Emirates (UAE) remains the top feeder market with consistent growth month-over-month of 3%, and comprises 17% of all bookings to Qatar over the World Cup period. It is close enough to hop on one of the match day shuttle flights that have been scheduled, to stay in UAE and have a quick commute into Doha. It was recently announced that non-ticket holders for the World Cup will now be able to enter Qatar during the tournament, as long as they have approval from someone with a match ticket. This means that more people will be in Qatar to enjoy the festivities that come with the World Cup, and people located in the immediate region can participate, as well.

Top September Flight Booking Origins for Nov-Dec 2022 Travel

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The week of the Beginning of the World Cup is the Most Popular Week to Travel to Qatar

From when we started tracking flight bookings to Qatar in January, we saw 39% of departures arrive in Qatar during the kickoff week. The vast majority, 80% of those flights booked during kickoff week, were purchased prior to September.