Qatar revises visa scheme
Qatar has revised its tourism visa scheme in a move to promote itself as a world-class stopover destination.
The new transit visa structure now allows passengers with a minimum transit time of five hours in Doha’s Hamad International Airport to stay in Qatar for up to 96 hours (four days), without the requirement to apply ahead of time for an entry visa.
This is a significant increase from the previous transit visa scheme, which allowed travellers with a minimum layover of eight hours to spend a maximum of 48 hours in Qatar.
The Qatar transit visa is free of charge and available on arrival in Doha to passengers of all nationalities, upon confirmation of onward journey and completion of passport control procedures.
All visas are approved and issued at the sole discretion of the Ministry of Interior.
Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: "We want to enrich the journey of all of our passengers and are restructuring our fares to reflect this initiative and to promote stopovers to travellers."
The development is the third in a series of enhancements that Qatar has made to facilitate entry into the country for visitors.
Last week, officials announced a new process to quicken the entry of tourists arriving on board cruise ships, and earlier, representatives signed an agreement with VFS Global, which will see the development of a new, faster and more transparent tourist visa application mechanism.
Qatar Tourism Authority chief tourism development officer Hassan Al Ibrahim said: "Qatar is providing its visitors a welcoming experience from the moment their planes touch down in Doha until they begin their onward journeys to their final destinations."
The introduction of a new transit visa scheme is also a step towards positioning Doha as a turn-around port for cruise ships, Al Ibrahim added, saying that in the near future international cruise passengers could fly to Qatar, enter using a transit visa, and begin and end their cruise in Doha.
"This will increase the length of stay in Qatar of a growing segment of visitors, and allow them to further explore our country’s tourism offering, while increasing the economic impact of cruise tourism," he said.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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