Qatar: The Cup's organising committee announced on Thursday that Qatar has chosen Accor, Europe's largest hotel group, to manage apartments and villas for fans visiting Qatar during next year's World Cup.

In a statement, Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said it had signed an agreement with ACCOR to manage operations and services across its host country real estate portfolio until the end of 2022. The decision to fully utilise Qatar's existing residential, apartment and villa properties will ensure that the country has "a sustainable hotel market that does not leave Qatar with excess permanent hotel rooms post-2022," according to Hassan al Thawadi, the head of Qatar's organising body.

A separate Qatari official said that Accor will provide staff to manage and operate more than 60,000 rooms in apartments and villas across the Gulf Arab state. Organizers of the 2018 World Cup in Qatar hope to attract 1.2 million visitors during the 28-day event, which begins in November. According to data published in August by the Qatar National Tourism Authority, Qatar has fewer than 30,000 hotel rooms in operation.

Qatar has a population of 2.9 million people, with 85 percent of the population being foreigners. Qatar has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world as the world's largest producer of liquefied natural gas.

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