Superyacht rentals, private jets and a soccer-themed hotel: Dubai is cashing in on the Qatar World Cup

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Qatar isn't the lone state getting a monolithic roar successful tourism acknowledgment to its hosting of the 2022 World Cup. 

The neighboring United Arab Emirates is acceptable to payment from the question too, with its glitzy commercialized superior of Dubai acceptable to spot an estimated 1 cardinal further visitors during the people of the shot tournament, according to the Dubai Sports Council.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, successful August called Dubai "the large gateway" to the World Cup and predicted it would spot much tourists than Qatar itself.

And the metropolis is pulling retired each the stops, leveraging its estimation arsenic a hyper-modern metropolis much wide and built-out than Qatar and advertizing the extravagant tourer attractions it's developed a estimation for. 

Dubai is known for over-the-top and outlandish experiences — similar its indoor skis slope analyzable successful the desert, the world's deepest man-made plunge pool, the world's tallest gathering and largest Ferris wheel. It's present added circumstantial World Cup-themed experiences, simultaneously taking vantage of the information that Qatar, a tiny state of 3 cardinal people, is struggling to accommodate each its expected tourists and galore of them volition opt to lodge successful Dubai for the matches instead. 

This has been made imaginable by "match time aerial shuttles" being operated by Qatar Airlines and Dubai-based low-cost bearer FlyDubai– allowing travelers to publication same-day round-trip flights from Dubai oregon adjacent Oman to be a lucifer successful Qatar and instrumentality successful little than 24 hours.   

"Only an hr distant from Qatar by flight, Dubai is simply a acquainted destination for planetary travelers," Taufiq Rahim, a probe chap astatine the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, told CNBC. "Its tourism infrastructure and straightforward introduction requirements marque it a convenient basal for World Cup fans."

Qatar is expected to person delivered 45,000 edifice rooms successful full by the commencement of November, according to Cushman & Wakefield Qatar, with tourney accommodation "bolstered by cruise ships, camping facilities, apartments and villas." Dubai, meanwhile, arsenic a metropolis has much than 140,000 edifice rooms, according to edifice information steadfast STR. 

Around the UAE's antithetic emirates, 43 instrumentality zones for watching matches person been acceptable up, with immoderate of the biggest – similar Budweiser's authoritative BudX instrumentality portion successful Dubai Harbor – large capable to big 10,000 fans regular with matches aired connected tremendous 3,552 square-foot screens. There's adjacent a soccer-themed edifice connected Dubai's man-made Palm archipelago, wherever the astir dedicated fans tin enactment portion being shuttled successful and retired of Doha for regular matches.

Dubai's gross won't conscionable beryllium coming from edifice stays and restaurants. Visitors to the emirate tin rent superyachts moving successful the tens of thousands of dollars per nighttime to ticker matches portion sailing done the Persian Gulf.

Xclusive Yachts, the UAE's largest backstage charter yacht company, offers its astir opulent seaborne acquisition astatine $20,000 per nighttime connected a tri-deck superyacht implicit with a skydeck, onboard bar, skylounge, 5 cabins and a Michelin-starred cook serving gourmet meals. 

"We are expecting a much than 300% [rise] successful yacht bookings successful November and December chiefly owed to visitors for the World Cup and Qatar who are besides looking for leisure activities successful Dubai," Managing Director Amit Patel told Doha News successful October.

Flight postulation is besides shooting up — Dubai Airports successful mid-November announced that a whopping 120 shuttle flights volition alert successful and retired of the Dubai World Central airdrome each time betwixt the tournament's commencement and extremity dates of Nov. 20 and Dec. 18. 

And connected Monday, the CEO of Flydubai, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said that astir each of the airline's match-day shuttle flights to Doha were astatine afloat capacity. 

"This is simply a signifier that looks acceptable to proceed implicit the adjacent mates of days and weeks," Al Ghaith said.

Flydubai and Qatar Airways volition beryllium jointly moving the lucifer time shuttle flights betwixt DWC and Doha. With the summation of flights from Dubai's main airport, Dubai International (DXB), travelers tin drawback a formation each 30 to 50 minutes. 

But similar everything successful Dubai, there's a luxury enactment if you person the currency to spend: Private pitchy charter companies person seen a roar successful business, with immoderate fans consenting to wage eye-watering sums to get to matches.

"We surely spot a large summation successful postulation betwixt Dubai and Doha implicit the coming month," Oleg Kafarov, portfolio improvement and communications manager astatine Dubai-based backstage charter pitchy institution Jetex, told CNBC. 

Jetex offers 2 packages: a afloat backstage pitchy work priced astatine 240,000 UAE dirhams ($65,340) for up to 10 passengers, oregon idiosyncratic seats priced that tally for 29,000 dirhams ($7,895) apiece. The formation clip betwixt Dubai and Doha is astir an hour. 

The institution adjacent decked retired its VIP terminal astatine DWC airdrome arsenic a World Cup instrumentality zone, with a mini shot transportation and different themed decorations. 

Despite the steep prices, request for backstage flights is importantly higher than this clip past year, charter operators are reporting, though the figures alteration from institution to company. 

Ian Moore, main commercialized serviceman for backstage charter institution VistaJet, says much than 70 of its enforcement pitchy flights to Qatar for matches are already booked.

"There's evidently immoderate radical that are waiting to spot if their favourite squad gets past the qualifying rounds," Moore told Gulf News.

"We powerfully promote our clientele to publication with america arsenic aboriginal arsenic possible, adjacent with a backstage jet, fixed the restrictions, and the magnitude of measurement of flights that Doha is expecting, you request to beryllium good organized and well-structured."