Swiss-based MATCH Hospitality has launched a brilliantly ambitious plan to combine sales of what may be the two hardest to get elements of a normal trip to a FIFA World Cup: flights to and from the host country and accommodation, and made these available to purchase online with official FIFA World Cup ticket-inclusive hospitality.
Teaming up with Qatar Airways, the FIFA World Cup official hospitality programme
Fancy watching the Qatar 2022 World Cup like this? Fifa hospitality programme provided by MATCH Hospitality kicking off 'early bird' bookings in tandem with Qatar Airways. Careful not to spill your drink. pic.twitter.com/wmJM2a0oyt
— Matthew Glendinning (@mattglen) September 8, 2021
The official press release announcing the copromotion alongside FIFA partner Qatar Airways was a little short on specifics.
But official hospitality packages start from USD950 per person per match, while Add Your Hotel and Add Your Flight options start from USD337 pp and USD475 respectively. Clients are told on the site they have to purchase official hospitality before being able to accessing MATCH’s hotel and flight allocations.
It's understood that MATCH has access to an exceptional range of hotel accommodation as well as first, business and economy class pricing from all destinations on the Qatar Airways route network.
The 32-team, 64-match tournament runs from November 21 to December 18 2022 and will be staged in eight venues clustered around the capital Doha and all less than 60 miles from one another. The unique dimensions of Qatar – less than 12,000 square kilometres or about one-twentieth the size of the United Kingdom – means that it is possible for the first time for a football fan to attend multiple matches in a single day while being based in the same hotel room.
In a press release last month, Qatar Airways confirmed they would also be operating a ticket-inclusive travel programme to the FIFA World Cup as part of their commercial affiliate rights, just as they did in 2018. This would combine general admission tickets, hotels and flights combined together in a single purchasable package. At the time this article was written no more details were available, with the airline site inviting registrations.
