In the current realities, the Middle East is gaining great popularity among Russian tourists. Qatar occupies a special place. Pac Group devoted a presentation of this country, talking about flights, tourism opportunities and the increased demand for cruises in the Persian Gulf.

The current demand for tours to Qatar in Russia is already showing good performance. Tour operators look at the prospects positively, predicting an increase of interest from Russian tourists to Qatar.

From February 3, it will be possible to visit Qatar without quarantine only for those vaccinated Russian tourists who received the second dose of Sputnik V no later than six months before the trip.

The Ministry of Health of Qatar has updated the list of countries by the level of risk of COVID-19. Russia returned to the green list since December 1. This means that quarantine upon arrival for Russian tourists will no longer be required.

The Qatari authorities have added Russia to the "red" list of countries, tightening the requirements for Russian tourists from November 15.

From October 6, the Ministry of Health of Qatar allowed tourists vaccinated with the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to enter the country. Nowadays, air traffic between Russia and Qatar has been resumed.

On September 13, the headquarters announced the resumption of flights with Spain, Iraq, Kenya and Slovakia, as well as the expansion of traffic to the resorts of Egypt. Flights abroad are also allowed from four more cities in Russia.

Qatar Airways has resumed flights from Doha to Moscow on March 2.

Russian tourists will not be able to visit Qatar in the near future, despite the fact that Russians are allowed to fly to the country's capital Doha and Qataris are allowed to come to Russia.

The diplomatic departments of the Russian Federation and Qatar have signed an agreement on the mutual abolition of visas. In the near future, Russians will be able to visit Qatar without a visa.

Market participants note a significant increase in bookings of Qatar for November dates and New Year holidays. Most of all tourists are interested in a quality beach vacation in this country.

Qatar Airways may increase the frequency of flights from Doha to St. Petersburg, as well as open flights to two major Russian cities.

The efforts of the Qatar National Tourism Council to promote the destination on the Russian market this year transform into concrete results: the leading players of the tourism market begin to sell package tours to Qatar. Last week, the tour operator Anex Tour announced the start of sales of package tours to Qatar for the winter season. The player took blocks of seats on regular flights Moscow - Doha of Qatar Airways to arrange its tour packages and received special tariffs from the carrier. This will significantly reduce the cost of tourist product from the tour operator and increase its competitiveness. 

Every year Qatar has more and more fans among Russian tourists. The flow of tourists from Russia grew in 2017 thanks to the cancellation of visa regime for representatives of 80 nationalities, including citizens of the Russian Federation and some CIS countries, such as Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Mouzenidis Travel, a well-known player on the Greek direction, in 2019 enters the Middle East region. In April, the tour operator launched the sale of tours to Qatar. Next in line are the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.  The press service of the tour operator explained enter on the Qatari destination by an expansion of the range of tours, allowing to work effectively also in low season.  “Qatar is the country most promising to the price-quality ratio among the countries of the Middle East,” the representatives of the tour operator said.  According to the specialists of Mouzenidis Travel, taking into account visa-free entry to Qatar, this region has every chance to become in demand for business and corporate events. 

“In the winter season Qatar can become an alternative for the United Arab Emirates which are popular among Russian tourists. Since September 17, Intourist tour operator is offering Russian passengers package tours to Doha by regular flights from Moscow and St. Petersburg”, - reported press - service of the tour operator.

The tour operator offers both package tours on the basis of daily scheduled flights from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Doha. The first flights started on September 15. As the Executive Director of Intourist tour operator Sergey Tolchin said, the decision to enter the Qatari direction is caused by the need to "offer tourists a new product in the Middle East. According to him, in Qatar Intourist plans to offer all kinds of recreation.

Qatar Airways is expanding its route network in Russia. Since December 19 the carrier launches the flights on the route Doha - St. Petersburg, which will be carried out daily. The new flights are expanding a range of tours for tour operators with change in Doha. The appearance of Qatar Airways in St. Petersburg experts note as an important event not only for the city, but also for the entire Russian air transportation market.

“Qatar Airways launches a third daily flight between Doha and Moscow since August 2, 2017”, - reported in the company's. The new flight will depart from Doha at 2:00, arriving to Domodedovo airport at 7:10. Return flight will depart at 9:50 with arrival to Hamad airport at 14:55. Flights will be performed by Airbus A320 aircraft. Thus, from August 2 Qatar Airways will depart from Doha to the Russian capital at 2:00, 6:55 and 15:20, from Moscow - at 9:50, 13:00 and 23:30.