Things You Need To Know Before You Visit Qatar

Climate and Clothing

Qatar has a hot and humid summer with an aver­age daily temperature of 41°C. Light clothing is needed for the most part of the year and in keeping with the traditional custom it is not advisable for women to wear shorts or sleeveless dresses in public. The winter months are cool with occa­sional rain hence light woolen clothing is needed during this season.
Qatar Tourism
Restaurants

The restaurants of the hotels listed above enjoy the reputation for best food and have round-the-clock coffee shop service. Other independent restaurants in Qatar include Airport Restaurant, Strand (Lebanese), Rendez-vous, Plaza Cafe, Dragon (Indian and Chinese). There are also snack bars such as Popeye, Wimpy and Ken­tucky Fried Chicken and several cafe-restau­rants serving good Indian food.

Liquor

Alcohol may not be imported and can only be brought by residents with special permits.

Oil Industry

Although the government is making an attempt towards industrial diversification, the economy is still based overwhelmingly on oil. Oil was disco­vered near Dukhan and export began in 1949. The main oilfields are Al-Bunduq, which is shared with Abu Dhabi, and Idal-Sharqi which was formerly operated by Shell.

In 1979 Qatar assumed 100% ownership of the Qatar Petroleum Company (QPC) and in 1977 it assumed control of the Qatar Gas Company.

Oil provides for well over 90% of government re­venues and its income has averaged about three times the actual expenditure. In the World Bank preliminary assessment for 1975 Qatar was placed the third richest state in the world per capita on an estimated calculation of some 45,000 indigenous Qataris sharing an oil income of some $25 billion a year. With the current pro­duction level of 500,000 bpd, Qatar’s oil reserve should last another 30 years. Its natural gas dep­osits are estimated to contain 70-100 trillion cub­ic feet. The State runs a generous aid program and invests the surplus as precaution when oil runs out. Major projects include a natu­ral gas liquid (NGL) plant at Umm Said built at the cost of $80 million but was destroyed by fire fol­lowing an explosion in 1977. The rebuilt plant with an annual capacity of some 876,000 tons of propane, butane and naphtha, is expected to re­sume production shortly. A major petrochemical plant is due to go on stream very soon and will produce 300,000 tons of ethylene for conversion into polyethylene per year. Other projects include a $400 million steel mill with a capacity of 400,000 tons, a small oil refinery, a power gener­ation, water distillation plants and two cement plants.

Economy an Industry

The state’s agriculture plays a major role in meet­ing local food requirements. The fishing industry has a strong export market in shrimps. Current production exceeds 30,000 tons of vegetables, 6,000 tons of fruits and 3.000 tons of alfalfa. Pro­duction of poultry and dairy products is also sub­stantial. Qatar’s long term objective is in achiev­ing self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs.

The Qa.ar National Fishing Company operates six trawlers and exports $2.5 million of shrimps per year. The Company also markets white fish, particularly humour for local market and tradi­tional fishermen are still active in this field.

Places to Visit

The Qatar National Museum situated in Doha, the capital, is the most ambitious and impressive museum in the Gulf region. It has been carefully restored to reflect the ancient and modern history of Qatar. It’s most unusual feature is the dhow basin with six replicas of old pearling and other vessels all built manually in the traditional man­ner.

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