06 May 2010
(MENAFN) Qatar said that it has earmarked $20 billion for tourism investments until 2013, as the Gulf Arab state plans to diversify its economy away from energy, Reuters reported.
Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority, Ahmed Al-Nuaimi, said that the state-run authority expects 40 new hotels with around 7,000 rooms to open in the coming year, mainly in the luxury segment.
The country’s economy is expected to grow 16 percent this year, with the state expecting a budget surplus of $2.67 billion. Qatar has been allotting a lot of money on infrastructure, real estate and education projects.
Al-Nuaimi said that tourism was never looked at as an industry that would be good for Qatar, but now perspectives are changing and the government has earmarked about $20 billion to spent on tourism projects in the coming five years, including infrastructure, hotels, airports, and ports, that support tourism.
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