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In the Middle East, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates have of course been garnering endless travel press in recent years, but in 2023 the star has been Qatar, especially since its month on the world stage last year as host of the FIFA World Cup. In large part thanks to that, and to hosting with distinction various other sporting events since, at this year´s World Travel Awards its capital Doha was awarded “World’s Leading Sports Tourism Destination,” and the ‘World’s Leading Business Travel Destination” thanks to its aggressive pursuit of the meetings and conventions sector as well as rapidly expanding business facilities and infrastructure. Qatar Tourism was also feted for this year´s top destination marketing campaign (which among other things for example featured one of the world´s top soccer legends, David Beckham, traveling around the country), though the country also received some international pushback due to its sketchy human rights and especially anit-gay record. Be that as it may, all of this contributed to a rise in Qatar tourism this year of more than 140 percent.

Read more in my post 7 of the Top Destination Brands of 2023.