Qatar World Cup ticket sales have reached almost 3 million according to FIFA President Gianni Infantino with more tickets to be made available soon as the tournament draws closer.
According to FIFA’s World Cup Chief Operating Officer Colin Smith, people from Qatar, the United States, Saudi Arabia, England, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, France, Brazil and Germany have purchased the majority of the 2.89 million tickets sold thus far.
Almost 90% percent of each World Cup stadium’s capacity has already been reached which was expected after Qatar received positive early signs during the initial ticket sales.
Infantino also announced that 240,000 hospitality packages, which can cost $34,300 per person in some cases according to FIFA, have been sold for the month-long tournament, making it the “most successful hospitality program ever,”.
Qatar is the smallest country to have hosted football’s global tournament and is preparing for an estimated 1.2 million visitors during the World Cup, the first to be held in a Middle Eastern country.
Due to the limited capacity, thousands of fans are expected to stay in neighbouring countries like the United Arab Emirates and fly to Doha for matches.
Two million room nights have been sold, needing the country to add an additional 30,000 rooms to accommodate last-minute ticket sales.
Most of the 31,000 or so hotel rooms in Qatar will be occupied by participating teams, their support staff and World Cup officials, forcing organisers to offer fans accommodation in apartments, villas, prefabricated metal cabins, desert tents and three cruise ships moored in the Doha port.
Qatar has already announced a strict set of measures for visitors to avoid any acervation to its already sub-optimal public image.
