The New Qatari Tourism Law - An Overview

On 7 August 2012, Qatar passed new Tourism Law No. 6 of 2012 (the "Tourism Law") superseding Law No. 7 of 1982 which was limited to regulating travel and tourism agencies.The new law covers the hospitality industry, including hotels and resorts, as well as tourism facilities, tourism activities and tourist guides.

In part, the Tourism Law requires all hotels to be licensed by the Qatar Tourism Authority (the "QTA") and the Ministry of Business and Trade and imposes a classification regime for hotels based on the facilities and services they provide to be evaluated every January. Hotels will be licensed for three-year periods while tourism facilities will receive one-year licences. The law also provides for a new profession of "Tourist Guide" and imposes a one-year licence requirement on the profession.

Fines for violating the law could reach QR100,000 for unlicensed tourism facilities or activities. Implementing by-laws and/or executive regulations are to be proposed by the head of the QTA. Until such time, the existing by-laws remain in force.

Hotel and Tourism Installations vs. Tourism Activities

The new Tourism Law defines and regulates different categories of hospitality installations and activities. The first is the Hotel Installations category which is defined to include hotels, tourist resorts, hotel apartments, tourist camps, floating hotels and tourist cruise liners.

The Tourism Installations category includes entertainment installations and clubs, in addition to offices providing tourist services and transportations, tourist guides and timeshare services.

On the other hand, the Tourism Activities category covers tourist transportation activities and related, specialized tourist transportation methods (including by land and sea) and tourist guides.

Licensing

The Tourism Law prohibits the unlicensed construction of any hotel or tourist installation or practice of any tourism activity. The required licensing is handled by the QTA which is tasked with evaluating and ruling on licence applications within 30 days of application.

Following a temporary provisional licence, a non-provisional licence is issued for three years in the case of Hotel Installations and one year for Tourism Installations and Activities. The licence can be renewed for one or more periods of the same duration with licence fees to be set by the Ministry of Business and Trade.

Article (7) of the Tourism Law notes that the Minister of Business and Trade has the...

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