Manama: The tourism sector has witnessed a growth of 6 per cent reaching 10.3million visitors in 2018 compared to 9.7 million in 2017.
HE Zayed Al Zayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism during his 2018 wrap up Press briefing highlighted the key indicators of growth in tourism sector said that total tourist nights were up 22.3 per cent to 9.8 million in 2018 compared to 8 million in 2017.
An average length of stay for tourists was up 18.9 per cent to 2.8 nights in 2018 compared to 2.4 nights in 2017. The year 2018 also saw the launch of Vatel Hospitality College in Bahrain, a vital part of the tourism strategy to provide necessary training to the Bahrainis.
The statistics earlier in the year released by Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) show that the tourism sector had witnessed a steady growth, thanks to Bahrain’s tourism infrastructure reached over BD 4.9 billion (US $13 billion).
The EDB statistics covered 14 prominent projects that will further boost growth in the Kingdom’s tourism and leisure sector. The Kingdom is also witnessing further enhancement to its tourism infrastructure to support this growth, which plays a significant role in Bahrain’s economic diversification efforts.
The tourism sector is one of the key investment sectors and contributes 6.3% to the country’s GDP, and is set to grow significantly, as the number of visitors and leisure activities increase. Bahrain continues to reaffirm its position as a tourism destination of choice with a number of new hotels, retail and leisure developments currently underway.
The tourism investment projects are part of Bahrain’s large-scale infrastructure development across a wide range of sectors and are valued at over US $32 billion. This public-private sector investment consists of US $10 billion of government funding, US $7.5 billion under the GCC Development Fund, and US $15 billion worth of investment in the private sector.
As part of these developments, Bahrain International Airport is undergoing a US $1.1 billion modernisation programme, set to increase passenger capacity from nine to 14 million per year by 2020. This will go hand in hand with the new five and four-star hotels and resorts in the tourism development pipeline that will cater to current and future demand.
Other infrastructure investment projects include the development of a number of shopping malls such as Dilmunia Mall and the Marassi Galleria shopping complex, to join the recently-opened US $159 million Avenues Mall at Bahrain Bay.
Bahrain’s tourism strategy also extends to medical-tourism projects through King Abdullah Medical City, and mixed-use real estate projects such as Bahrain Bay, Bahrain Marina, Diyar Al Muharraq, Water Garden City, Dilmunia, and Marassi Al Bahrain where Emaar Hospitality brands such as The Address Hotel and Vida are under construction.