A RECORD number of people visited Bahrain’s most popular nature reserve and zoo last year.
A surge of visitors saw 323,286 people walk through the gates of Al Areen Wildlife Park and Reserve, in Sakhir – almost 112,200 more than in 2016.
First established in 1976, the reserve hosts a wide variety of plant and animal species native to Bahrain as well as from international locations.
Renovation
Following a number of renovations, the reserve has cultivated and equipped facilities to better sustain animal and plant life and has tried to further accommodate guests through new picnic areas and coffee shops.
The reserve was thought to have reached its peak in 2015 when 293,075 people visited it.
The number fell to 211,081 in 2016 but picked up last year to record the highest number of visitors in one year to date.
“We have a lot of new developments such as the Japanese garden, Viva traditional garden, bird cage walk-through and the Batelco wild animal complex,” Al Areen head of guiding tourism Sager Khamis told the GDN.
“We revamped some enclosures, brought new animals like tigers, lions and chimpanzees and have worked to make the park greener.”
However, Mr Khamis said other projects were still in progress.
“I expect more visitors in 2018 than in 2017, and we’re working on that by bringing new programmes and activities especially for students; great focus has been put on student programmes.”
Elaborating on the recent increase in visitors, Mr Khamis said that a ticketing system has been implemented to record each ticket sold.
The spike in ticket sales was a result of ongoing development, it was found.
“Every year you will see something different; we are working day and night to continue developing and changing.
“We hope to continue to serve such a large number of visitors and provide good facilities for them during their visit to Al Areen.”
In July last year, MPs voted to turn the park into an international tourism destination.
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