Qatar is celebrating a surge in tourism, having welcomed double the number of visitors from the Gulf region than last year.

According to recent figures over 845,630 visitors from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) visited Qatar last year, increasing hotel occupancy by 19.25 percent, the Gulf Times reported.

Additionally, international tourism figures also soared with a healthy 12 percent increase in visitors travelling to Qatar.

The Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) indicates that Asian tourists accounted for 58 percent of the total visitors, while tourists from Arab countries increased by 19.13 percent and 15 percent were from European countries.

Qatar saw eight brand new hotels open last year, raising the number of hotels to 74 and hotel rooms to 11,341 in 2011, an 18 percent increase from the year before.

The increase in hotels had not impacted occupancy rates which remained steady at 59 percent for the year.

QTA chairman Ahmed al-Nuaimi said the figures indicate that Doha was on track to become one of the main tourist spots for GCC citizens and residents.

“Tourism is central to Qatar’s vision of creating a diversified and sustainable economy,” he said.

“These strong results can be attributed to the growth of the hospitality industry, especially in the area of hotels and resorts as well as our strategy to target travellers transiting to stop in Doha.”

Mr Ahmed al-Nuaimi said he was optimistic that Qatar’s tourism sector would continue to thrive throughout 2012.

“We will also continue our successful efforts at marketing Qatar as a destination as well as bringing large scale events and conferences to Doha.