BAHRAIN has more than doubled the number of key tourist markets it is targeting as part of the ‘Tourism 2.0 strategy’, a top minister has revealed.
The plan for 2022-2026 will cover 18 markets where the kingdom will actively promote Bahrain as a destination for meetings, incentives, conference and exhibitions (MICE) tourism, said Industry Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed Alzayani.
He was speaking during a special summit on redesigning tourism at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.
The full list of countries is still to be announced and they will follow in the footsteps of the UK, Germany and Russia amongst others.
The previous strategy that lasted from 2015 to 2019 focused on seven markets and enabled the government to double the contribution of tourism to the national gross domestic product (GDP) to seven per cent, he added.
According to available data, the tourism sector’s contribution to the GDP was 4.6pc in 2015.
“We have set ourselves the ambitious target of raising the tourism industry’s share of GDP to 11.4pc by the end of 2026. The main pillar of the new strategy is building on the ‘4As: Awareness, Attraction, Access and Accommodation’,” Mr Alzayani said.
The first tourism strategy focused on facilitation of entry, development of tourist attractions, marketing and promotion of tourism in partnership with the private sector and providing adequate accommodation to tourists, which the authorities would build on, the minister said.
Key elements of the new plan include the development of waterfronts and sea leisure activities; specific focus on business, sports, leisure, medical and heritage tourism and the use of media and films.
With Bahrain witnessing a recovery in the tourism sector, the minister said the new strategy “is perfectly timed”.
“We are going after the global MICE market and that’s one part of the strategy,” Mr Alzayani said.
“We are gearing up to host Jewellery Arabia in a few weeks, which will be the first major event with public attendance since the start of the pandemic.”
Highlighting the new Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre, currently being developed in Sakhir, as a major project, Mr Alzayani said it would bolster Bahrain’s position as a leading business events hub internationally.
“In October next year, the new exhibition centre will be ready to host events. It has 95,000sqm of exhibition space over 10 halls, a 4,000-seat tiered auditorium, 95 meeting rooms, Royal and VIP majlis and a 250-seat restaurant, and can host a range of events from exhibitions and conventions to concerts, live events, weddings and seminars.”
Mr Alzayani, who is also chairman of the national carrier Gulf Air, said the airline is a key player in the strategy with new route launches and more flights on existing routes in the pipeline.
“Gulf Air added Singapore and Tel Aviv during the pandemic and we will revive our pre-pandemic expansion plans connecting Bahrain to key destinations,” he added.
Package
Hailing the leadership for the ‘swift and comprehensive stimulus package designed to protect jobs and support business sectors affected by the crisis’, the minister said it was among the largest in the world making up 33pc of the GDP and was designed to be heavily front-loaded.
“The first package was an umbrella and later on we became more targeted, narrowing it down to those that continued to be worst affected,” he said.
The minister believes the world has now come to terms with the reality of Covid-19 as “we know a lot more about it than we did initially”.
The GDN reported that the country recorded 27 new cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) on Tuesday, the lowest since March last year.
Recovery rate remains impressive at 99.95pc and the kingdom is also closing in on ‘herd immunity’ with almost 76pc of its population fully vaccinated.
Talking about the impact of the pandemic on Bahrain’s hospitality sector, Mr Alzayani said the country largely bucked the negative impact as only one hotel shut down, while three new opened and six would have opened by the end of the year.
Quoting fDi Intelligence’s Tourism Investment report 2021, the GDN reported in September that Bahrain topped the Middle East and Africa region bagging $492 million-worth of tourism capital investment in 2020.
Investments from the likes of UAE-based global property developer Emaar Properties and real estate developer Eagle Hills enabled the country to rank first in terms of capital investment last year.
Jobs
Bahrain also placed first in terms of job creation in the tourism cluster in 2020, with a 40pc market share across the region, and the kingdom was second to the UAE among the region’s top destinations for tourism FDI by number of projects.
Sounding an optimistic note, the minister said, “We believe the worst is behind us and we have learnt lessons from the crisis. As His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, said it was a war that all of us, the public and private sectors and the community fought together, and soon we will celebrate the victory.”
avinash@gdn.com.bh
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