Then, some hotels organise what they call ‘ladies night’ once a week, when not only entry but drinks also are free for women all through the night. At least one such hotel says it attracts as many as 250 young and pretty women of different nationalities to its ‘Ladies Night’ fixtures, and the idea is to “balance” the ratio of men and women at these parties.
Not so, really, considering that the events attract young men of various nationalities in large numbers and they must pay an entry fee even if they have a membership card that allows them free entry on other days of the week.
It is natural to expect some women to get drunk at these parties, which continue until the wee hours, and what might be happening next is anybody’s guess.
Aside from ‘ladies nights’, hotels also organise special ‘nights’ devoted, for instance, to airlines’ crew members and their industry colleagues, where entry is free for women and discounts are offered on drinks.
These parties are not the only feature of Doha’s changing nightlife. There are discos where live bands play and drinks flow freely, and there are sports as well as ordinary bars and pubs where both men and women drink and mix freely.
Qatar Tourism Authority, the regulatory body for the hospitality and tourism industry, bars the entry of Qatari men and women dressed in their traditional attire into such places.
But hotel industry insiders say their estimates suggest some 20 to 30 percent of their patrons are Qatari men who, obviously, come in Western clothes. The identity cards of entrants are checked and even scanned at many such joints to make sure they are over 21 years of age, but there are several joints that do not follow this rule, say sources.
Obviously, people who have money to burn patronise such places, but there is at least one disco in a middle-range hotel which is largely patronised by limited- and even low-income expatriates. There are some middle-range pubs and bars as well.
People living here for long say things were different some 15 years ago, as there were just a few bars and most of their patrons were either Europeans or Filipinos. Few Asians went to these joints and it was kind of a taboo for nationals to visit these places.
But, according to community elders — both Qataris and expatriates — Doha’s nightlife began changing after the national carrier began expanding in the late 1990s in a big way and recruiting air hostesses from different countries, including Westerners, in large
numbers.
These women, being young, unmarried and accustomed to a different lifestyle, needed relaxation after long flights and so went out seeking enjoyment. Then began a sudden surge in the country’s population and, especially from 2004 onwards, the influx of foreign workers, including professionals, became heavier as development projects were being launched in increasing numbers ahead of the 2006 Asian Games.
There has literally been a population explosion ever since and with the stupendous gas-driven growth in the economy, people’s purchasing power, too, grew. The population in 2004 was a mere 750,000, and the figure stands at an incredible 1.93 million today. Qatar’s per capita income grew simultaneously, and is today more than $100,000, making Qatar the richest country on earth.
No wonder, then, that with people from so many nationalities living here and many of them having high disposable incomes, and international luxury hotels setting foot here in increasing numbers, Doha’s nightclubs come to life after the sun sets, say sources.
