Qatar 2022 World Cup: What accommodation is available for fans?
Over 1 million fans are expected to travel to Qatar to attend the tournament which gets underway on Sunday 20, November as the host nation face Ecuador.
The 2022 World Cup kicks off next Sunday as host nation Qatar face Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.
The Gulf nation is the smallest country ever to stage the prestigious competition and the existing 3 million population of Qatar will swell with 1.2 million fans expected to attend the tournament during its duration with the final being staged at the Lusail Stadium on 18 December.
Accommodation has proven to be a challenge for the organizers with such an influx of visitors with the traditional hotels, flats being complimented with rooms available on cruise lines that will dock in Doha harbour, Bedouin style camps have also been set up to cater for fans and somewhat less salubrious, but more affordable portacabins are also available to house supporters.
Rooms still available claim Supreme Committee
Fans have booked accommodation in more than 90,000 rooms, tents, apartments, villas and portacabins on each of the peak days of the World Cup in Qatar, the Supreme Committee recently, adding that at least 25,000 rooms are still available.
For $200 a night, fans can rent one of 6,000 brightly-painted aluminium portacabins, arranged in long, straight rows. There is a temporary supermarket, outdoor screens to watch games and astroturf to keep the dust down.
The peak number of fans are expected between 24-28 November during the busy group stage and on average, fans will spend seven nights in Qatar, SC executive Omar Al-Jaber said.
Flying ‘in and out’ option
Doha International airport is also anticipating more than 500 shuttle flights a day allowing fans to stay in neighbouring cities like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, alleviating concerns tiny Qatar would face an accommodation shortage.
With a population of 3 million, Qatar has fewer than 31,000 hotel rooms so organisers identified a total of 130,000 rooms in alternative accommodation, converting all available real estate stock into temporary housing.
Three cruise ships will also dock at Doha’s port to provide more than 5,000 rooms. Some fans will stay in 1,000 modern tents on a man-made island north of Doha, Al-Jaber said.