Qatar World Cup ticket sales near 3 million

STORY: Qatar World Cup ticket sales near 3 million, organizers say

Among the top purchasing countries of the 2.89 million tickets sold are:

Qatar, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, England, Mexico, the UAE, and Argentina

Hospitality tickets cost more than $34,300 per person for semi-final matches and the final

They allow access to luxurious stadium lounges

Qatar expects to welcome 1.2 million visitors during the World Cup

which kicks off on November 20

Soccer fans will also be able to experience the Middle Eastern country off-pitch

from dune bashing, camel riding to castle visits

(Berthold Trenkel, Qatar Tourism Chief Operating Officer)

“I think there is an opportunity to reset some of the misconceptions, the first misconception is that the Middle East is not safe and that Qatar is not safe. In fact statistically speaking, Qatar is the safest country on the planet and people will go home definitely knowing that because Qatar is really safe. Second one is obviously people are not sure how does it work with the Middle East, how do I need to behave and they will all go home and say it's actually no different than at home it's humans living in a city but surrounded by beautiful nature, so that's the second misconception. The third one hopefully people will come home and say Qatar is extremely hospitable country and the Arabian hospitality is world renowned.”