Hotels in Dubai expect to be close to full capacity in the final months of the year as tens of thousands of football fans plan to use neighbouring countries as a base for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Supporters groups are booking up hotels in the emirate en masse, with up to 100 supporters planning to base themselves at a single hotel and travel to Doha for matches in November and December.
The most interest has come from nations with a long history of success at the Fifa World Cup, held every four years and making its first appearance in the Middle East from November 21.
We have to be wary about putting rival supporters together, so we are careful not to have block bookings for teams from Holland and Germany
David Allen,
Radisson Hotels
Supporters from South American teams and European powerhouses are creating the most demand for hotel rooms, as fans expect their nations to reach the latter stages of the tournament.
David Allen, cluster general manager for Radisson Hotels, said group bookings are being taken in huge numbers.
“As there is little to no availability in Qatar, we are seeing a lot of interest here,” he said.
“The types of groups are booking from the more traditionally successful World Cup nations, like Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Germany.
“A lot of South Americans are booking up in groups so they will clearly have a strong base here.
“Bookings of between 50 to 100 are being made at a time.”
UAE an obvious choice
Accommodation in Doha for football fans heading to Qatar is mixed.
From designated fan camps in temporary housing units 40 minutes outside of the city, to cruise ships docked in the glittering West Bay, city hotels and Airbnb-style options, many are expensive or already booked up.
Mr Allen said Dubai is an obvious choice for many.
“We have to be wary about putting rival supporters together, so we are careful not to have block bookings for teams from Holland and Germany for example,” he said.
“It is something we are mindful of, but it is just common sense. I don’t anticipate there being any issues.”
The UAE has become an attractive option for fans, with Air Arabia and flydubai operating a combined total of more than 45 daily shuttle flights from Dubai and Sharjah into Doha.
Travel is only open to match ticket holders with a valid Hayya fan ID and tourist visa for Qatar, arriving in Doha at least four hours before a match and departing four hours after.
Many hotels in Dubai are expected to operate mini fanzones and erect big screens from where games can be enjoyed during the month-long tournament.
"The upcoming Qatar World Cup has created an air of optimism in the tourism sector, with an increase in hotel bookings across the UAE for the period of November and beyond,” said Varun Ahuja, director of sales at Aloft Dubai South.
“We have hotel confirmed bookings from transient individuals and fan groups, mainly coming from Latin America, the UK and Germany.
“We are also starting to see family bookings with a very healthy length of stay of between five and seven days.”
Busy season for the region
The hotel will offer a shuttle bus service to the nearby Dubai World Central airport to cater for fans heading to Doha.
Kim Iskandar, vice president and commercial director, for Middle East, Africa and Turkey, for Hilton Hotels, said demand has been high in the UAE for November.
“With the announcement of shuttle flights to Doha, the UAE is a great choice for football fans who are visiting Qatar and looking to explore the wider region,” she said.
Abu Dhabi's Rotana capitalises on demand
Rotana Hotels is one group to have developed new accommodation options in Qatar, specifically for the World Cup.
The group took over management of the 250-room Sedra Arjaan hotel located on The Pearl Island and is opening a new property a 503-room Residences by Rotana in time for the World Cup.
Guy Hutchinson, Rotana president and chief executive, said occupancy rates are likely to be close to 100 per cent during the tournament.
“I am positive we will see an immediate impact on the region from the Fifa World Cup with neighbouring countries benefiting as key transit hubs with efficient connectivity and advanced accommodation options,” he said.
“The recent announcement of several Gulf airlines co-operating to offer visitors daily shuttle flights to Qatar will allow fans to stay in cities such as Dubai and fly for the day, ensuring a busy season for the whole region.
“It will result in a spillover of domestic and international travel demand, not only to Qatar but to all neighbouring countries as well.”
Occupancy rebound
Analysis from Colliers in its latest Mena Hotel Forecast suggests a huge bounce back for the tourism industry will kick-in during the final quarter of 2022.
Hotels in Dubai Creek and Festival City are expected to see the biggest increase in occupancy rates since 2021, up 19 per cent to an estimated 77 per cent for the year, according to the Colliers report.
Hotels in DIFC and along Sheikh Zayed Road are forecast to see 17 per cent increase to 73 per cent occupancy, with a 17 per cent increase in Abu Dhabi Beach hotels to around 64 per cent occupancy.
Other neighbouring markets were also expected to benefit from the World Cup, with Saudi Arabia also seeing a sharp rise due to the return of pilgrims in 2022.
In Makkah, an increase of 106 per cent in occupancy compared to 2021 and an 80 per cent increase is expected in Madinah.
Bahrain's occupancy is expected to be up 9 per cent, Kuwait City will see 24 per cent more hotel stays, while hotels in Amman, Jordan will be 33 per cent busier in 2022 than the year before.
However, the Colliers report predicts a strong end to 2022 could be tempered by global instability and rising fuel costs that could impact the tourism sector into 2023.
“The Fifa World Cup is expected to result in overspill demand to the key transit hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” the report said.
"However rising instability in key CIS source markets is expected to suppress demand, with the largest impacts expected in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah.
"Given the diversity of source markets for the UAE, additional hotel demand may be induced from alternative markets at a lower price positioning.”
Additional reporting by John Dennehy
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Source: VCOe
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Gothia Cup 2025
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World record transfers
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2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani