Qatar Economic Outlook Issue Number 13

 
Figure 2-3: Mining and manufacturing sectors 
at current prices 
(
)%
11.9-
50.5-
33.6-
56.2 
38.7 
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2019 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2020 2021
Oil
Manufacturing
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority

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Qatar Economic Outlook 2021 - 2023 
54 
Impacts on Tourism-Related 
Activities
Travel and tourism activities are among the 
most important economic pursuits in most 
countries. Their direct impact is not limited to 
activities that are directly related to tourism 
and travel, but in addition their indirect impact 
on economic activities affects several other 
sectors and acts as a motivating factor for 
others. According to the annual reports of the 
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in 
London, probably by using the Tourism 
Satellite Account (TSA, the service activities 
related to tourism, namely, transport, hotels 
and catering, arts and culture, and sports 
activities, were estimated for the State of 
Qatar at 9.1% of GDP in 2019 (WTTC, 2020).
Since the transport and warehousing sector 
in Qatar is one of the sectors affected by 
geopolitical changes and international 
economic fluctuations, its activities declined 
in 2020 by negative 27.1%, in which most of 
the decline came from air transport activities 
by negative 49%, but which was relatively 
offset by an increase in maritime transport 
activities by about 11.6%. It is worth noting 
that maritime and air transport represent, on 
average, 75% of the GVA of the transport and 
warehousing sector during the period (2015-
2020), and they employ 45% of the workforce 
in the same sector (71.000 employees).
In order to ascertain the impact of measures 
taken to contain Covid-19 on the inbound 
tourism activities coming to Qatar, available 
data on the number of arrivals to Qatar 
through its land, sea, and air ports was used 
as an approximate criterion. Figure (2-4) 
suggests that the number of arrivals 
decreased by 73% from 2.1 million visitors in 
2019 to 0.6 million visitors in 2020, in addition 
to a 35% decrease in the spending of foreign 
tourists in Qatar.