Last week, the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship ended after 9 days of competitions. This year the event was held in Qatar, in particular Doha, for which large sport events are beginning a regular occurrence. These events can serve as a catalyst for the development of tourism.
The massive presence in sport allows Qatar to position itself on the world stage and at the same time attract many tourists. Another upcoming event the country is going to host are the World Corporate Games from 6 to 9 November this year.
This will be the biggest sport event in the history of Qatar, pending the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The 23rd edition of the competition will bring together more than 8,000 people from all over the world and thus will create a network of the global community of professionals.
Qatar can offer quality facilities for its visitors. The country has a large variety of accommodation facilities, from the smallest to the most famous international hotels. The hotels are situated in different parts of Doha, which makes it more convenient for participants and guests, as they can be as close as possible to the sport venues.
The country also offers reasonable transportation possibilities. The main airport of Qatar is the Hamad International Airport, which is widely considered as one of the most efficient in the world. The location of the country is also advantageous, as it is situated not within tolerable distance from both European and Asian regions.
Qatar hosts more than 80 sport events every year. The country has already hosted the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, the 2011 AFC Asian Cup or the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championship.
Qatar is the first country in the Middle East to have obtained the hosting rights for the 2019 World Athletics Championship, 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 FINA World Swimming Championship.
All this is obviously economically extremely beneficial for Qatar. It helps the country develop as a whole, economically, socially and in terms of sports. However, it is worth noting that large sport events are also a big tourism magnet.
Every country has tourism potential however what matters is how you have done promoted it. I agree with Qatar to go ahead to promote tourism using the sports event. Just like Uganda uses its natural wildlife and scenery to boost its tourism