Qatar, which expects to reap $9bn profit and $17bn revenue from the World Cup, has used the tournament as a vehicle to deliver economic change and diversification, according to Kamco Invest, a regional economic powerhouse.
Qatar’s tourism sector is also forecasted to benefit from the World Cup and is expected to represent 12% of GDP or gross domestic product by 2030.
Qatar is also expected to benefit the World Cup in terms of soft power and good will, making it an attractive spot for investment and trade.
Moreover, Qatar’s hospitality sector is forecasted to grow by 89% to reach over 56,000 hotel keys by 2025.
After winning the opportunity to host the FIFA World Cup in 2010, Qatar has invested heavily in infrastructure projects from building stadiums to host the world cup to its Northfield gas expansion projects.
According to MEED Projects, Qatar has awarded over $245bn worth of projects since 2010 of which over 70% has been completed.
Qatar’s largest project is the $45bn Lusail City, followed by the $36bn Doha Metro and the $15.5bn airport expansion project.
Moreover, Qatar has built seven stadiums for the FIFA World Cup finals, a series of new roads and close to hundred hotels during the period after winning the opportunity to host the World Cup.
Staging the FIFA World Cup tournament is a matter of great importance, it said, adding countries around the world vie for the opportunity to host the competition and usually the award process of the competition is eyed across the globe. Moreover, the hosting country usually spends billion in infrastructure projects such as building new stadiums, expanding train networks, building new hotels to be able to accommodate the travelling fans of the game.
"It is usually a sign of country’s confidence and planned future ambitions when it seeks to host an international sports competition," Kamco Invest said.
Terming that the FIFA World Cup is much more than an international sports competition, Kamco report said it is the most loved; followed and watched sports competition in the world.
It can also be argued that the FIFA World Cup has the biggest country rivalry and historical importance as compared to other sport tournaments in the world such as the Olympics, NFL, NBA and even football club competitions.
"Given that football is known as the global sport or specifically “the beautiful game” it is understandable that a competition where football national teams around the world compete for a gold world cup would be exceptional," it said.
After Qatar, the GCC of Gulf Co-operation Council countries are set to benefit from the FIFA World Cup tournament due to their geographic proximity to the host country and to some extent the relaxed hospitality rules in some jurisdictions such as Dubai.
Certain sectors of the region’s economy such as the hospitality and transportation sectors are set to benefit from the tournament which is expected to garner around 1.2mn fans from all over the world, according to Standard and Poor's survey.
The inflow of such a significant number of fans is expected to have spillover economic effects to Qatar’s GCC neighbours which have also prepared for the tournament and rolled out attractive tourist deals of accommodation and flights to woo fans.
Qatar, which expects to reap $9bn profit and $17bn revenue from the World Cup, has used the tournament as a vehicle to deliver economic change and diversification, according to Kamco Invest, a regional economic powerhouse.
