The history of Qatar is informed by its geography, as a peninsula in the middle of historical trade routes and the country benefited much from cross-cultural exchange. Almost all of the country’s history is discovered through oral accounts of people who lived through its history.
Two major groups contributed to its rich cultural legacy: the nomadic Bedouin tribes and the settled pearl diving Hadar community.
Through listening to the older generations, today’s Qataris found that many of the Bedouin’s social norms and structures also apply to the Hadars who settled along the coastlines and traded with visiting merchants.
They lived nomadically in tents made from Sadu, a textile woven by the women, from the livestock they reared and migrated frequently in search of water and trade.
Qatar’s cuisine is based on its history as a once impoverished country. In the past, families only had enough resources for one meal a day. This made the food very rich and heavy.
The cuisine is also influenced by their neighbours and features similarities to Indian cuisine due to the spice trade. Mathroba (beaten rice), is a slow-cooked dish, with vegetables, rice, oats, and meat, is a good example and a beloved local dish.
The national dish is Machboos, a layered rice dish, similar to biryani but spiced with a Qatari mix of spices referred to as Baharat. The Baharat mix differs from family to family but contains seven main spices.
One of the four pillars of Qatar’s National Vision 2030 emphasises the perseverance of the country’s national heritage and enhancing Arab values and identity. These values and identity include hospitality. Qatar is known for its unmatched level of hospitality.
There's a standard word that every household aims to follow “karam”, which translates to generosity, giving guests the best of what you can get.
Historically, the unspoken rule of the land was to welcome and host travellers into your home for three days, before questioning their background and purpose of visit.
The guest would stay and experience being a part of their family. This means they would also be provided food, bed, shelter and protection and given the best of what the host could offer.
Without pearl fishing, the Qatar peninsula would have been almost entirely deserted, except for small groups of Bedouin who visited during their annual migrations. All of Qatar’s towns and villages were located on the coast, and all of them relied on pearl fishing for survival.
This trade goes back as far as 7000 years. Another lesser known trade was the manufacturing of date syrup. It was extracted from the madbasa, a traditional date press.
Date syrup is nutrient-dense and high in calories so it gave locals, especially pearl divers, a quick and cheap source of energy.
Date syrup manufacturing is one of the oldest industries in Qatar and speaks to the resourceful nature of the people. Date trees are one of the few types of agriculture that Qatar’s natural landscape can cultivate.
While the women were busy taking care of the livestock, making the tents, and cooking the food, the men trained and hunted with their falcons in the desert. Training the falcon was a very common occupation that was done with great care. Falconry helped with hunting wild game and providing food to the family.
Although livestock provided the majority of the nomads' food, falconry was regarded as a skilful art, and men would frequently compare how well their birds were trained and cared for.
This brings us to the present day, where falconry is seen as a very prestigious sport and birds are sold for upwards of a million Qatari riyals (more than R5 million). There is even a falcon hospital in Souq Waqif where men send their falcons to be taken care of during the off-season.
Qatar is home to a diverse range of heritage, historical and modern sights, from the Al Zubarah Unesco World Heritage Site to the futuristic Msheireb in downtown Doha, from the bustling Souq Waqif to the glamorous The Pearl-Qatar man-made island.
Iconic museums include the National Museum of Qatar, the Museum of Islamic Art, and the recently opened 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museums.
Nature lovers can seek out the famous Arabian oryx on a desert safari, kayaking through mangroves, or spot whale sharks, the largest fish in the world which gathers in large numbers off Qatar's coast, on a dedicated tour.
The impressive 'Inland Sea' or Khor Al Adaid, another Unesco-recognised site, lies to the south of Doha, and is one of the few places in the world where the sea encroaches into the desert. In terms of crime and general safety, Qatar has consistently been ranked the safest country in the world.
Thanks to comprehensive measures put in place by the government, Qatar recorded a very low Covid-19 mortality rates by global comparison, and more than 7.5 million vaccine doses were administered in the country.
Qatar Tourism runs a Service Excellence programme to galvanise everyone in the country to ensure best-in-class experiences at every stage of a visitor’s journey, from the “Qatar Clean” hygiene and cleanliness plan to a comprehensive training programme for tourism workers.
Launched with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), “Qatar Clean” is a certification given to hotels and attractions that meet the highest standards of hygiene and safety. 100% of Qatar Tourism licensed hotels are now certified.
In terms of sports, Doha’s Lusail Stadium, with a seating capacity of 80 000, glows gold in the hot Doha sun.
Designed by British architects Foster + Partners, the stadium is designed to mirror the ancient Arab craft of bowl weaving, with the interplay of light and shadow that characterises the traditional fanar lantern, which is lit by a candle instead of oil.
At night, an advanced lighting system will maximise the interaction of the light and openings in the façade, mimicking the welcoming glow of the fanar lantern for approaching fans.
Qatar has hosted more than 600 sporting events over the last ten years, and many of these will continue post-2022.
There were a number of annual sporting events that will continue to be hosted in Qatar including the WTA Qatar Ladies Open and Qatar ExxonMobil (tennis), Commercial Bank Golf Masters (golf), and Grand Prix of Qatar (motorcycling).
Additionally, Qatar will host the 2030 Asian Games. At the pinnacle of the sporting calendar will be the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix, which the country will host for 10 years from 2023.
The maiden Qatar Formula 1 Grand Prix took place at the Lusail Circuit last year and was a great success.
Qatar Airways and Qatar Tourism also announced partnerships with GKA Kite World Tour and the global Ironman series, to become their official airline and tourism partners until 2024 and 2025, respectively.
The main target is an ambitious goal to welcome more than six million visitors a year by 2030.
The national tourism strategy also aims to, by 2030 to increase the tourism contribution to GDP to 12%, increase visitors’ in-destination spend by three-to four-fold, position Doha as one of the top 20 cities by spend per tourist and to make Qatar a global leader in service excellence
With so much to explore, travellers should visit the website or download the app, to discover the country’s abundance of undiscovered experiences and varied itineraries suitable for every type of trip and traveller.