Boxloads of wooden camels, plates with pictures of Qatar’s skyscrapers, gold necklaces, football hats and scarves arrive every day in Doha’s Souq Waqif market, where traders eagerly await World Cup fans.
The narrow alleys of the century-old market will be a magnet for the one million football followers expected at the tournament, which kicks off on November 20.
“There will be huge crowds, we have never experienced anything like this,” said Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al-Nama, head of the souq stables that organises camel and pony rides. “Inshallah (God willing), we are ready.” Crowds are already growing as a World Cup buzz mounts.
Fan zone attractions and temporary stores are being set up around Nama’s camel enclosure and the hundreds of small stores selling incense, spices, carpets, gold and even falcons and other birds and animals. Press reports said stores will be allowed to open 24 hours a day during the World Cup.
When Souq Waqif opened in the early 20th century, traders stood at the entrance shouting at passers-by to buy their goods. Its name means the “Standing Market
“It will be a great mixture of Arab culture and football,” she added.
Every evening, terraces are now filled with people drinking coffee and puffing on shisha tobacco pipes — it is a zone with no alcohol.
But traders, who have long been preparing for the World Cup, are expecting more. Nama cites the camels kept in an enclosure on a square as one attraction.
“I think that many tourists will want to see the camels and take pictures with them, because they are not found in Europe and East Asia,” he said.
Qatar can certainly use this opportunity to position itself as a family friendly destination,” said Kamilla Swart-Arries, associate professor in sport and tourism at Hamad bin Khalifa University.
“The World Cup will just amplify and maximise the changing perception that people may currently have about Doha and Qatar.”
At the World Cup countdown clock on seafront Corniche road, Bangladeshis, Indians, Nepalis, Pakistanis, Kenyans and Ugandans from Qatar’s huge migrant community flock to take selfies next to the modernist structure.
“I am a fan of Lionel Messi and I have a ticket to see Argentina play Saudi Arabia,” said Anwar Sadath, 56, an Indian accountant.
Source: IOL
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