Qatar has suspended plans to make visitors from many countries obtain visas before they travel, Qatari media and an airline industry source told Reuters. News of the plan, floated earlier this month, surprised investors and drew objections from airlines and tourism-related businesses, local media and the source said. The plan would have required citizens of 33 countries, including the United Kingdom, United States and several Asian nations, to obtain tourist and business visas before traveling to Qatar. Those citizens can now get visas on arrival. The new rules had been due to go into effect on May 1, the airline industry source close to the matter told Reuters. “It does seem to go counter to Qatar's open-door policy,” said Shadi Hamid, deputy director of the Brookings Institution in Doha, the Qatari branch of the Washington-based think tank. The government gave no reason for the initial plan to scrap the visa-on
